Over the weekend, the North Carolina Tar Heels baseball team advanced to the 2026 men’s College World Series, but it was quite the ride to get there. For one, UNC lost the opening game of the best-of-three super regional series to USC. Then in the decisive Game Three, the Trojans took a 3-1 lead into the eighth inning and a 3-2 lead into the ninth, having held the Tar Heels’ offense in check for most of the day.
However, Carolina did manage to rally, with Owen Hull’s walk-off double completing a wild
comeback and clinching UNC’s 13th trip to Omaha for the MCWS. The victory was a dramatic one, especially in light of the Heels’ season being on the line.
The win is also one that every Tar Heel fan watching will remember for a long time. That also gives us a chance to think about some of the other games that we’ll remember for a long time. For today’s question of the day, I want to know: What are your favorite dramatic and/or last second wins from any of the UNC teams?
For my personal favorite, we go to the football field. In 2012, UNC was tied with NC State with just 30 seconds left. The Tar Heels had led the game by as many as 18 points in the first half, but had let the lead slip away and were in real danger of losing to State for a sixth-straight time. However, the defense came up with a stop late, leading to the Wolfpack punting the ball away with just 30 seconds left.
For the return, UNC sent in star running back Gio Bernard to field the punt, and for some reason, State sent down a returnable punt. The rest is history.
My honorable mention is one I don’t have any actual memory of, as I was not yet three years old, but it deserves a place on the list. In 1994, the UNC women’s basketball team made the national championship game, where they faced off against Louisiana Tech. With just 0.7 seconds left in the game, the Heels trailed 59-57. Inbounding the ball underneath their own basket, UNC drew up a play that found Charlotte Smith wide open just beyond the three-point arc. Smith nailed the ensuing shot, giving Carolina the win and their first and only women’s basketball national title (so far).
This one deserves a mention, because not only did it win UNC the championship, they would’ve lost it had it not gone in. There are memorable shots, like Seth Trimble’s against Duke from earlier this year or Villanova’s K*** J****** buzzer-beater that decided a game, but would’ve led to overtime had they rimmed out. Smith’s shot literally flipped a championship.
Those are my answers, but I want to hear from you. What are your favorite last-second UNC victories?
