Who does North Carolina have to thank for their spot in the NCAA Tournament field?

All UNC basketball fans should be thanking this particular team for winning their conference tournament.

In case you haven't heard, North Carolina made the NCAA Tournament field as the last team in.

Literally, the LAST team in the field.

Of course, the CBS Sports panel hosting the bracket reveal show asked North Carolina's Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham, the chair of the 2024-2025 NCAA Tournament committee, to elaborate on the thought process behind North Carolina getting into the field.

Of course, it's important to remember that Cunningham, given his ties to the university, was not allowed to be in the room for any discussions regarding North Carolina and was also ineligible to vote on any topic related to them.

Cunningham deferred the question to Keith Gill, the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner who served as the vice-chair on this year's committee. Essentially, Gill painted the picture for how it played out:

Gill stated that the committee voted on Saturday night, a vote that broke down two scenarios:

If UAB defeated Memphis in the AAC Tournament finals, UAB would claim the final spot in the field.

If Memphis defeated UAB, it would be North Carolina claiming that final spot.

The Memphis Tigers did the Tar Heels a HUGE favor!

It comes full circle, given that Memphis and North Carolina played an exhibition game earlier in the season. That game resulted in a 84-76 victory for the Tar Heels, one that fans remember as the "Seth Trimble Game," as he scored a career-high 33 points in the win.

This just goes to show how close it was for the UNC basketball program's NCAA Tournament hopes. Fortunately, the Tar Heels did just enough and got a little help from some friends along the way.

I don't know about you, but I hold Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers in very high regard!