Call this the Carolina Invitational. Coach Roy Williams’s No. 1-ranked Tar Heels won’t even have to get on a plane until they head to the Final Four in San Antonio in two weeks, assuming they win two games this week in Raleigh and two more in the Regionals next week in Charlotte, a city in which Carolina has won 30 of its last 33 games.
The Tar Heels will tune up with a game against the winner of tomorrow night’s play-in game between Coppin State and Mount Saint Mary’s. That will earn them a second-round date against either Arkansas or Indiana, neither of whom is red-hot. The Razorbacks are coming off an upset loss to ‘‘Cinderella’’ Georgia in the SEC tournament final and Indiana has been sputtering under interim coach Dan Dakich.
With probable national Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough focused on winning a national title and with point guard Ty Lawson almost recovered from his sprained ankle, the Tar Heels should cruise back to Charlotte to find either Washington State or Notre Dame.
Washington State had a rough trip in the Pac-10, playing a secondary role to Stanford, UCLA, and, at times, even USC. Make no mistake, the Cougars are a tough out and should handle Winthrop in their first game. Then they will deal with Notre Dame, which will prove that George Mason is not the magical George Mason of a few years ago. The Cougars will wear down the Irish, then run into a North Carolina team that will just be hitting its NCAA Tournament stride.
In the other half of the bracket, however, danger lurks. The chalk theory says that Louisville should be there. The Cardinals will get past Boise State, then have to deal with Saint Joseph’s, which will provide Hawk fans with moments of pleasure in Birmingham, Ala., by upsetting No. 6 Oklahoma in the first round. Beating Louisville two nights later won’t be as easy.
In the bottom half of the draw, No. 2 Tennessee should cruise past American in the opener, but then the alarms go off. Watch out for South Alabama. The Jaguars are hungry and will outlast Butler, then run right past the Volunteers. Beating Louisville will be a different matter altogether because Cardinal coach Rick Pitino loves facing teams coming off upset victories.
That sets up a Louisville-Carolina match, which on a neutral court might be more interesting. In Carolina? Not going to happen.
UPSET SPECIALS: Saint Joseph’s over Oklahoma; South Alabama over Butler; South Alabama over Tennessee
MOVING TO CHARLOTTE: North Carolina, Washington State, Louisville, South Alabama
REGIONAL CHAMP: North Carolina
