UNC learns of its NCAA Tournament fate ahead of Selection Sunday

There was no doubt that Courtney Banghart and the Tar Heels were going dancing in March.

However, leading up to Selection Sunday, the main question was whether or not the Tar Heels did enough to host games over the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Fortunately, we didn't have to wait until Sunday night to find out, as the NCAA revealed the top 16 teams on the women's side, all of which have earned hosting opportunities to begin the tournament.

As Tar Heel fans hoped, North Carolina was among the teams who claimed a spot among the top 16 teams in the country!

There's more basketball to be played at Carmichael Arena!

The top 16 overall seeds for the 2026 NCAA Tournament

Here's the teams who will serve as hosts for the 2026 NCAA Tournament (note that they are listed in alphabetical order):

Duke
Iowa
Louisville
LSU
Michigan
Minnesota
North Carolina
Ohio State
Oklahoma
South Carolina
TCU
Texas
UCLA
UConn
Vanderbilt
West Virginia

Along with North Carolina, two other ACC programs will host games. There will be basketball played in Durham as the ACC regular season and tournament champion Blue Devils were a shoe-in to host, while Louisville, who lost to Duke in the ACC Tournament finals, did enough to make the top 16.

It was a close call

It wasn't a guarantee that North Carolina would get to host for the second consecutive NCAA Tournament, but the Tar Heels success down the stretch seemed to have turned the tide to help them get to this point.

Maryland and Kentucky are two of the biggest "snubs" who did not make the cut, as both teams have built strong cases to be included among this group. However, the Tar Heels' overall resume secured them a spot, something UNC fans will be extremely excited about.

We'll find out where UNC seeded among this group (likely No. 15 or 16), and will also know who will be visiting Chapel Hill for the opening rounds of the tournament on Sunday night when the full bracket is revealed.

Don't close up Carmichael Arena up for the season just yet. There's still more basketball to be played in Chapel Hill!