News update:watch Hubert Davis live preparation for NCAA Tournament it all about winning

North Carolina won’t officially know its first opponent in this year’s NCAA Tournament until Tuesday night.

The top-seeded Tar Heels will face the winner of No. 16 seeds Howard and Wagner, who face off in the first game of the First Four on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. Howard (out of the MEAC) and Wagner (out of the NEC) are the two lowest ranked tournament teams according to Ken Pomeroy’s college basketball database, slotting in at No. 276 and No. 293, respectively. To combat the uncertainty of its next opponent, UNC has started its preparation on both teams.

I’ve watched tape on Wagner and Howard already,” coach Hubert Davis said Monday night on his radio show. “After the show, I’m gonna go home and have some food and start watching more tape. We had practice this morning, and practice this morning was about us, and then tomorrow we’ll prepare. Our practice will be split. It’ll be a little bit of preparation for

Since the field expanded to 68 teams in 2011, the Tar Heels have faced off against a team coming off a First Four win twice. In 2012, UNC knocked off Vermont (77-58), who defeated Lamar 71-59 two nights prior. Carolina raced past Florida Gulf Coast (83-67) to open the 2016 NCAA Tournament after FGCU dismantled Fairleigh Dickinson 96-65 in that year’s First Four.

Top seeds hold a commanding 150-2 all-time record against No. 16 seeds. The lone upsets have both come within the last six years, with Virginia falling to UMBC (74-54) in 2018 and Purdue losing to Fairleigh Dickinson (63-58) in last season’s tournament. FDU won a game in the First Four prior to knocking off the Boilermakers.

The Tar Heels are the fourth-ranked overall team in this season’s tournament (behind No. 1-overall UConn, Houston and Purdue), and Carolina was the final No. 1 seed to be revealed in Sunday’s selection show. Despite much anticipation from UNC players and its coaching staff, who gathered Sunday night to watch the bracket reveal together, the head man said he was already aware of his team’s postseason placement.

I already knew, I found out earlier in the day that we were going to be a No. 1 seed and which region and who were playing, but I didn’t tell them, and I didn’t tell the assistants,” Davis said Monday night. “So they were wondering if we’re going to be a one or two, so they’re like writing stuff down while (the bracket) was coming out. And by the time we got to the West, (they said), ‘we have to be there, we have to be the number one.’ … They were really excited to see North Carolina up there and just the excitement of being able to play for a national championship and participate in the NCAA Tournament is just a big deal