The Tar Heels were thought of being the little brother to Duke this year. Those thoughts were confirmed at the beginning of the season where they lost 3 of their first 11 games. However, Roy Williams and the Tar Heels led by Coby White, did a complete turnaround once conference play came around. Who stands in North Carolina’s way of going to yet another Final Four?
Midwest Region
Round of 64
North Carolina will start off the 2019 tournament with a play date against Iona. The Gaels finished up their season 17-15, and never played any real competition all year. This being said, the first round for the Tar Heels should be rather easily and Iona should be put away quickly.
Round of 32
After dismantling Iona, North Carolina will face either Utah State or Washington. The Aggies are supremely efficient at scoring, averaging almost 80 ppg. Utah State’s most notable win came against #12 Nevada. High scoring teams have proven to be dangerous in the tournament, and if North Carolina has to go up against that, it won’t be an easy task. The Huskies on the other hand, are not the potent scoring threat like the Aggies. However, they’re still capable of pulling an upset. The Huskies haven’t beat a ranked team this year, but almost pulled off a colossal upset against #1 Gonzaga. No matter who the Tar Heels face, it’s not a given.
Sweet 16
The Sweet 16 will be absolutely no different, considering North Carolina will likely match up against Auburn or Kansas. Auburn is a team that designs their play around what the Warriors pride themselves in: Threes, drive, Spacing, and Whipping the ball around the arc. The Tigers have been notorious for shooting themselves in and out of games this year, and Bruce Pearl even admits it. Living and dying by the three can either put you out early or make you go on a deep run. Auburn beat Tennessee twice this year, and almost took down #1 Duke, so this isn’t a team to overlook. Kansas is a gutted team but still has lots of talent. Kansas has struggled with Azubuike and Sousa all year. However, they can still take down any team on any given night with Dedric Lawson as the center piece. Kansas is 8-3 against ranked teams this year, proving they are very capable.
Elite 8
Finally, the most challenging round before the Final Four. This is where the Tar Heels will most likely go head to head with the likes of Kentucky, Iowa State, or Houston. Kentucky has some very impressive wins against Kansas, Tennessee, and the Tar Heels themselves. The Wildcats struggled at the beginning of the season, but as Coach Cal always figures it out, so did the players. PJ Washington turned his slow start into a player of the year caliber season, and Tyler Herro is standing out as a pure scorer. Houston hasn’t played the toughest competition all year, but don’t take anything away from them as they are a very good team. They finished 3-1 against ranked teams and have a consistent scorer in Corey Davis Jr. Iowa State has had an inconsistent year by beating teams like Kansas and Kansas State twice, and taking down Texas Tech. Contrary, the Cyclones have loses to teams like Baylor, West Virginia, and TCU. Given that March is a month of runs, the Cyclones could do just that in route to playing North Carolina. The Tar Heels have one of the hardest roads to the Final Four as a #1 seed if not the hardest. Nothing will be a given in the Midwest region.
