With the Tar Heels losing their opening game of the ACC Tournament to Clemson on Thursday, there isn’t much left to discuss other than the NCAA tournament and where North Carolina fits into it this season. So with Selection Sunday on the horizon, here is a quick recap of what the Tar Heels have done in the Tournament in the past.
History
When North Carolina’s name gets announced on Selection Sunday it will be their 55th time making the tournament. In those previous 54 tournaments, North Carolina has made
38 Sweet Sixteens, 29 Elite Eights, 21 Final Fours and 12 title games, winning six of them.
The Tar Heels 54 appearances, 38 Sweet Sixteens, and 29 Elite Eights are all second all-time to Kentucky, who has been to 62 tournaments making 49 Sweet Sixteens and 38 Elite Eights. North Carolina’s 12 championship game appearances is tied with Kentucky and UCLA for the most all-time, while their 21 Final Fours is three more than any other school. Their six national titles is tied for third all-time with UConn and trails only Kentucky with 8 and UCLA with 11.
Additionally, their 132 tournament wins is tied with Kentucky for the most all-time while their .729 winning percentage is second all-time behind Duke. UNC also has two of the top three winningest tournament coaches in Roy Williams (second) and Dean Smith (third) as well as two of the top five coaches in final four appearances in Dean Smith (third) and Roy Williams (fourth).
Streaks
When the Tar Heels hear their name called on Selection Sunday it will be their third straight tournament appearance. Though a lot of schools would love to be in their third straight NCAA tournament, for a historic program like UNC, its just a small drop in the pool. Here is a list of streaks for UNC over the years.
Tournaments made: 27 (1975-2001, thanks for nothing Matt Doherty)
This streak is currently tied with Michigan State for the second longest, but after Selection Sunday it will be tied for the third longest with Gonzaga.
First Round games won: 18* (1981-1998)
*One could argue this should be 20 as in 1979 and 1980 the Tar Heels did make the second round of the NCAA tournament but didn’t actually win their first game played as they received byes into the second round, but lost both second round games
Sweet Sixteens: 13 (1981-1993, might be the most impressive streak on here)
Elite Eights: 3 (1967-1969, 1981-1983, and 2007-2009, three different times makes this the second most impressive streak on here)
Final Fours: 3 (1967-1969, zero championships from this group may be one of the biggest misses in UNC history)
Championship Games: 2 (1981-1982 and 2016-2017, both times UNC won a championship the year after coming up short)
One Seeds: 3 (2007-2009, probably the most surprising of the streaks)
Seeding
Currently North Carolina is looking at a seed somewhere between a 5 and a 7 depending on who you look at. Oddly enough, the Tar Heels have never been a 5 nor a 7 in the NCAA tournament, though the have been a 6 three times.
Of the 54 times North Carolina has been in the tournament, they have been a 1 seed eighteen times (an NCAA record), a 2 seed nine times, a 3 seed four times, a 4 seed two times, a 6 seed three times, an 8 seed five times, and an 11 seed once (yes that is only 42 seeds, because the NCAA tournament didn’t seed teams before 1978, with the real system starting in 1979. In 78’ they used a weird Q/L system that they quickly abandoned).
The Tar Heels have won their most games (65) and been their most successful (.833 winning percentage) as a 1 seed, which is the seed they won 5 of their 6 championships (again there were no seeds for the 1957 title). They have been the least successful as a 3 seed (.428, which is the only seed they are below .500 as a seed). The most surprising seed is the 8 seed which is third in both wins (12) and success (.705) while also producing two Final Four squads (2000 and 2022).
