North Carolina may have considerably of a homecourt benefit
within the opening weekend of the 2026 NCAA Tournament if the Tar Heels can handle
without star freshman Caleb Wilson.
No. 6 seed UNC (24-8) performs No. 11 seed VCU (27-7) at 6:50
p.m. ET Thursday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.
The South Region sport airs on TNT.
Wilson, an All-ACC first-team choice, is out for the
season after breaking his proper thumb. Wilson injured the thumb whereas working
again from a left hand fracture. Wilson’s final sport was on Feb. 20. UNC is 5-3
in eight video games without Wilson.
“Our team will move forward,” UNC coach Hubert Davis mentioned of Wilson’s damage on March 7 after the regular-season finale in opposition to Duke.
Davis added, “Obviously, there’s tremendous sadness for him. I’ve talked about how special … obviously he’s a special player, but just how remarkable of a kid and a teammate he is and the passion that he has for his teammates, for North Carolina for being on the floor, for playing in games like this. It was a dream for him to play in the ACC [Tournament] and the NCAA Tournament, and my heart is broken that he won’t be able to do that.”
The UNC-VCU winner will play the winner of the Illinois-Penn
sport on Saturday in Greenville, South Carolina.
The different groups within the South Region embrace No. 1 seed
Florida, No. 2 seed Houston, No. 4 seed Nebraska, No. 5 seed Vanderbilt, No. 7
seed Saint Mary’s, No. 8 seed Clemson, No. 9 seed Iowa, No. 10 seed Texas
A&M, No. 12 seed McNeese, No. 13 seed Troy, No. 15 seed, Idaho, No. 16 seed
Lehigh and No. 16 seed Prairie View A&M.
UNC enters the NCAA Tournament on a two-game dropping streak.
Thursday marks the Tar Heels’ fifty fifth look within the NCAA Tournament, the
second most all-time.
It is the fourth NCAA Tournament look in 5 seasons
below head coach Hubert Davis, who has led the Tar Heels to an 8-3 report in
the NCAA Tournament.
The Tar Heels fell to Duke within the regular-season finale
and lost
80-79 to Clemson in the ACC quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, the Rams have gained 16 of their final 17 video games. It
features a three-game sweep of Duquesne, Saint Joseph’s and Dayton to win the
A-10 title this previous weekend in Pittsburgh.
NCAA choice committee chair Keith Gill mentioned the committee
mentioned Wilson’s damage and the way it handled UNC.
“We spent a whole lot of time clearly speaking about Caleb
Wilson, and that clearly impacted the best way we talked about North
Carolina,” Gill mentioned.
UNC and VCU have by no means performed earlier than.
North Carolina has the second-best NCAA Tournament profitable
share amongst faculties which have performed at the least 20 video games. The Tar Heels maintain
a 134-51 report within the NCAA Tournament.
