VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) – North Carolina is again a No. 1 seed. The Tar Heels are hopeful staying close to home can again spark another Final Four run.
The Tar Heels (28-6) are tops in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament and open Thursday against the Florida Gulf Coast-Fairleigh Dickinson winner about 30 miles away from campus in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Playing so close to campus has been fortuitous in the past for the Tar Heels – they played tournament games in Raleigh in 2008, and rolled to two easy wins in the opening weekend on their way to the Final Four. Under coach Roy Williams, the Tar Heels won their last national championship in 2009.
North Carolina won its 18th ACC championship, one shy of Duke’s conference record.
“Coach (Dean) Smith said a long time ago you build your momentum once you get into the tournament,” Williams said. “He talked about each tournament individually. We played pretty well five of the last six years we’ve been in the (ACC) tournament but haven’t been able to finish it off. I’m hoping this will even give us some more confidence.”