Charlotte’s piece of NCAA Tournament includes UNC, Tennessee and major madness potential

After a topsy-turvy weekend in college basketball, Charlotte’s NCAA regional this week will have two primary colors: Carolina blue and orange.

The blue comes from UNC, of course, as the Tar Heels earned a No. 1 seed in the 68-team NCAA Tournament after winning the ACC regular season and then losing the ACC Tournament final to N.C. State on Saturday night.

That means UNC will be the clear headliner in Charlotte, which is only 140 miles southwest of Chapel Hill. On Thursday at 2:45 p.m., UNC will face the winner of the Howard/Wagner game Tuesday night. And if the Tar Heels win that one, they will play the Mississippi State-Michigan State winner sometime Saturday.

Both those games will feel like home games for UNC, and rightfully so. The Tar Heels generally play a game a year in Charlotte and have for decades to try to keep this side of the state happy and maintain their hold on much of the state’s populace and their major alumni base in the Charlotte area.

But the other predominant color in Charlotte will be orange. Not the Clemson shade of orange, although ESPN’s final projection Sunday morning had the Tigers playing in Charlotte.

Instead, Clemson got sent to Memphis, much like Duke, N.C. State, South Carolina and Charleston, who all also got shipped out of the Carolinas by the NCAA Tournament committee.

But No. 2 seed Tennessee and No. 7 seed Texas are both coming to the Queen City, and Virginia may well make an appearance too — if the Cavaliers can win their First Four game Tuesday night against Colorado State. An all-orange round of 32 game Saturday in Charlotte seems quite possible, and we’re all going to hear a few dozen renditions of “Rocky Top” before it’s over.

What else is in store?

Well, Tennessee has a player named Dalton Knecht (pronounced “Connect”) that you need to know about if you don’t know how good he is already. Knecht, a dynamic forward and projected NBA lottery pick, is one of the 10 best players in the country and was the SEC’s Player of the Year. He’s up for many of the same national awards as UNC guard RJ Davis, the ACC’s Player of the Year. The Volunteers’ coach is Rick Barnes, who was raised just up the road in Hickory.

What you would anticipate in Charlotte would be favorites UNC and Tennessee still standing as of Saturday night and moving on to the Sweet 16 the following week, with the other six teams in Charlotte headed home.

But Charlotte also has a reputation for its own brand of tournament madness, most notably when No. 1 Virginia sustained the first-ever loss to a No. 16 team in 2018. No. 1 seeds had been 135-0 against No. 16 seeds in the NCAA Tournament before that game. After that game, they were 135-1.

I was there, marveling at the game from press row.

“I think we kind of all wanted to be in the ‘One Shining Moment’ video,” UMBC’s Joe Sherburne joked afterward. “We were all in the locker room singing the first line, because that’s all we know.”

That’s the sort of thing that can happen with March, as “5-wins-in-5-days” N.C. State can attest.

It’s wonderful to have a slice of the NCAA Tournament in Charlotte again. My only quibble is with the geography. I wish there were two teams in the field with Carolinas connections instead of only one.

Still, it’s going to be great fun. (And one tip if you’re in the last-minute market for tickets in Charlotte — go to Saturday’s second round, not Thursday’s first round, if you can. The tickets on the resale market on Saturday are always far less expensive, as fans from the four losing teams unload their own tickets and head home).

Texas made the Elite Eight of this tournament only last year and is one of the most experienced teams in the field. This isn’t Virginia’s most talented squad, but if the Cavaliers and coach Tony Bennett can get past Colorado State, they play a throttling brand of defense that can even out any game. Michigan State is a college basketball blueblood; only a No. 9 seed this year, but still dangerous with coach Tom Izzo (eight Final Fours).

No. 8 seed Mississippi State has a big man named Tolu Smith who can dominate and a 5-foot-10 freshman in Josh Hubbard with deep three-point range.

The winner of the Howard-Wagner game will be severely undermatched against UNC on Thursday afternoon, but hey — UMBC pulled it off in the very same building. Saint Peter’s, a No. 15 seed, will have to face Knecht in the first round (9:20 p.m. Thursday). But in 2022, also as a No. 15 seed, the Peacocks became one of the tournament’s major stories with a colorful run to the Elite Eight.

And UNC?

A year ago, the Tar Heels finished an awful season by not making the NCAA Tournament at all. Two years ago, they made it to the national final. This team is a veteran squad capable of winning the whole thing if it all goes right, or of flaming out in Charlotte like UNC did in 2018 (as a No. 2 seed, the Tar Heels lost by 21 points to No. 7 seed Texas A&M).

With six games in Charlotte — four on Thursday and two more on Saturday — there’s plenty of opportunity for drama. Let’s hope we get our share of it in basketball’s best month.

Charlotte regional tip times

Team seeding and TV networks are in parentheses

12:15 pm. Thursday: (9) Michigan State vs. (8) Mississippi State (CBS)

2:45 p.m. Thursday: (16) Wagner/Howard winner vs. (1) UNC (CBS)

6:50 p.m. Thursday: (10) Colorado State/Virginia winner vs. (7) Texas (TNT)

9:20 p.m. Thursday: (15) Saint Peter’s vs. (2) Tennessee (TNT)

Note: Tip times for Saturday’s two games in Charlotte will be determined Thursday night after the conclusion of that day’s action.