NCAA Tournament in Charlotte: March Madness tips off, UNC’s in town and Final Four picks

Happy NCAA Tournament day to those who celebrate, and that really should be all of you if you are reading this.

I love the first day of the NCAA Tournament as an adult in the same way I loved Christmas Eve as a kid. No one is disappointed yet. Brackets aren’t busted, bets (legal this year in North Carolina!) aren’t lost and players aren’t figuring out where to transfer next in the losing locker room. It’s all about anticipation, and this year that rings especially true since eight of the 68 men’s teams in the March Madness field will begin their journey in Charlotte at the Spectrum Center.

For some reason, although Friday contains exactly the same overall number of first-round games (16) and is just as essential, it has never hit me in quite the same way. Do you feel the same way? Maybe it’s because 20 teams are already gone by then — the quartet that got knocked out in the First Four Tuesday, as well as the 16 on Thursday. Maybe it’s because the second bite of your favorite dessert isn’t quite as sumptuous as the first.

In any case, I’m personally glad Charlotte’s piece of this tournament comes on Thursday, with four games in an 11-hour basketball feast.

No. 1 seed UNC’s game with No. 16 Wagner will be the headliner, at 2:45 p.m., but likely not the closest (UNC is favored by 23.5 points). Wagner, incidentally, has been limited to seven scholarship players for the entirety of its conference season due to injury and has not had a live, “contact” practice until Dec. 27. One of the other three games will likely produce the upset, if there is one.

It starts with Michigan State and Mississippi State at 12:15 p.m., followed by UNC and Wagner, followed by a few hours off to clear out Spectrum Center and reset it for the night games, followed by Colorado State-Texas at 6:50 p.m. and, lastly, Tennessee-Saint Peter’s at 9:20 p.m.

“I mean first and foremost, I’m glad to be back, just playing in March and especially in March Madness,” UNC’s R.J. Davis, the ACC’s Player of the Year, said Wednesday in a pregame press conference. “It’s a great feeling, and the type of feeling you always dreamed of as a kid: half-court shots, game-winners. But just to be back in this position is great not only for us, but for the program, just to get Carolina back on the map. We’re hungry to win.”

The Tar Heels, of course, made the national final in coach Hubert Davis’ first year, then missed the NCAA Tournament entirely in 2023 after a horrendous season by their standards. Now they have returned, as a No. 1 seed, playing in a building they know well. UNC usually plays a game a year in Charlotte and is also 12-1 all-time in NCAA tournament games in the Queen City. Most recently, the Tar Heels beat Oklahoma, 81-69, in December in Charlotte.

“We sold it out and probably 98 percent were Carolina fans,” said Armando Bacot, UNC’s all-time leading rebounder. “We’re expecting that same type of turnout for these games. So it’s great to be able to have two home games and a place that we all love and are familiar with.”

“I love playing in Charlotte,” Davis said. “I feel like we were just here.”

“It’s a huge deal to be able to be close to campus,” UNC coach Hubert Davis. “Hopefully that helps us play at our best.”

Of course the women’s basketball tournament will be going on simultaneously and draws more attention every year. This season No. 1 overall seed South Carolina — the only undefeated team in either the men’s or women’s field — will try to win its third national championship over the past seven years.

Iowa, meanwhile, will showcase Caitlin Clark in her final tournament before entering the WNBA Draft. What a dream final it would be if South Carolina and Iowa play each other.

I suppose I will subject you to my Final Four picks, although let me warn you first they never work out.

Women’s Final Four: South Carolina, Iowa, Stanford and Southern Cal.

Champion: South Carolina.

Men’s Final Four: UConn, North Carolina, Tennessee and Houston.

Champion: Houston.