Despite its troubles, North Carolina still got a postseason bid.
The Tar Heels, mired in a 16-16 season and a tenth-place finish in the ACC, were nonetheless too attractive a candidate for the National Invitational Tournament to pass up. UNC earned a No. 4 seed.
The Tar Heels host No. 5 seed William & Mary on Tuesday.
Attend The Game
Time: 9:30 p.m. Tuesday
Location: Carmichael Arena
TV: ESPN
Radio: 1360 AM, 106.1 FM
It’s the first time since 2003 that UNC will play in the NIT. In that year, the Tar Heels finished 19-16 in a rebuilding year after going 8-20 the previous season.
They won two games in the NIT and eventually fell to Georgetown. It is the third time that UNC has missed the NCAA tournament since 2001, and the first time during Roy Williams’ tenure.
The fastest coach to 500 wins hadn’t sat out the NCAA tournament since his first season as a head coach at Kansas in 1989. The 2009-10 season breaks Williams’ streak of 20 consecutive NCAA appearances and 20 consecutive seasons with at least one NCAA tournament win.
This year’s squad will be focused on winning a game or two to try to wash away any of the dismal season, which included a 5-11 record in the ACC, a 32-point loss to Duke to close out the regular season and a first-round exit from the ACC tournament. All that came on the heels of a national championship in 2009.
But the Tar Heels face a stiff test in William & Mary. The Tribe boasts wins against three tournament teams already, taking decisions from Richmond, Wake Forest and Maryland. Both the ACC wins were on the road.
While the Tar Heels will host at least the first-round game, they will not play in the Smith Center.
Scheduled renovations to the building will push the Tar Heels into newly renovated Carmichael Arena, which served as the home to UNC men’s basketball teams in the 1980s before the Smith Center’s construction in 1986.
If UNC beats William & Mary on Tuesday, then the next challenge will be the winner of No. 1-seed Mississippi State and No. 8-seed Jackson State.
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
