March Madness: a time of utter chaos and an opportunity for a fresh start.
For the UNC basketball program, it's been a long road to get to this point. An up-and-down season led many to believe that the Tar Heels wouldn't make the field of teams to begin with, as North Carolina essentially became public enemy No. 1 once the final bracket was revealed.
Duke fans said they ended our season (three times), putting us in the coffin. However, they forgot to put in the screws.
The country is in an uproar that we're even in this position. From blaming Bubba Cunningham to making every excuse in the book to prove we don't belong, the facts remain the facts:
North Carolina is in the NCAA Tournament field, and there's nothing you can do about it.
This added fuel should only spark this UNC basketball team, a group who undoubtedly have heard the hate over the last few days. However, this isn't new to this group, as they've essentially been playing with their backs against the wall over the last month.
In that span, North Carolina won 8 of their 10 games.
No one expected North Carolina to be here, and it's safe to say that most of the country (besides Tar Heel faithful) will be rooting for them to lose.
This group, quite frankly, doesn't care what you have to say. In fact, the goal is to come out on Tuesday night and prove everyone wrong.
March Madness is an amazing time. It provides teams with a fresh start, as every single team comes in with the same exact record. Regular season records and standings mean squat, and Quad 1 victories aren't so heavily focused on by the media.
What the UNC basketball program needs to do is simple: come out and play with that same fire and passion that got them to this point. Sure, they have their flaws, but there's no doubt that this is a much different team than the one we saw through essentially the first half of the 2024-2025 season.
When the ball tips on Tuesday night at Dayton, nothing else matters: the Tar Heels once again control their own destiny. We love a good storyline, as it would be satisfying to see North Carolina go on a little run in this big dance.
Even though college basketball has drastically changed since the Dean Smith era, the same motto still remains very much in the focal point of Carolina Basketball.
Play Hard.
Play Smart.
Play Together.
It's time to prove the doubters wrong.