After nearly every bracketologist had North Carolina on the outside looking in, the Tar Heels managed to sneak into the NCAA Tournament. But there’s a catch — they’ll have to go through the First Four, facing San Diego State in Dayton before a potential first-round matchup with Ole Miss.
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips took plenty of heat from fans who accused him of failing to advocate for his conference. In the end, he didn’t have to. The ACC landed four bids: Duke (1), Clemson (5), Louisville (8), and North Carolina (11*).
“I’m surprised by North Carolina,” said Clark Kellogg.
He wasn’t the only one.
According to Seth Davis on the CBS selection show, the Tar Heels’ elite nonconference strength of schedule was the key factor that secured their spot.
But do the Tar Heels actually deserve to be in the tournament? This is a team with a brutal 1-12 record in Quad 1 games. Yet that didn’t seem to deter the selection committee – chaired by none other than UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham — from handing them a spot in the field.
When Davis asked about North Carolina’s inclusion, Cunningham quickly deferred to his vice chair, Sun Belt commissioner Keith Gill, while emphasizing that all policies and procedures were followed.
“As the vice chair, I managed all the conversations that we had about North Carolina — and we had quite a few,” said Gill. “Our policies require the AD of any school to rescue themselves and actually leave the room for some discussions, and they’re not allowed to participate in any vote, as well. So, we followed those and had lots of discussions about North Carolina. Saturday night, we took our final vote, and we voted in four teams in the field on Saturday night, and we had a contingency vote.
“The contingency vote, that was [for] the last team in the field. It was based on Memphis and UAB. If Memphis won that game, then that was going to free up a spot in the tournament, and that was going to be North Carolina. If UAB had won, then Memphis was going to be in the tournament, UAB would be in the tournament, and North Carolina would be the first team out.”
Memphis won. North Carolina made the tournament.
But whether it actually belongs will be decided in due time.
For now, their inclusion raises more questions than answers. Was this about metrics or just brand recognition? Either way, the Tar Heels are dancing — whether they deserve the invite or not.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.