After UNC upsets Baylor, how far can Hubert Davis lead Tar Heels in March Madness?

UNC avoided a massive collapse to pull off the upset against Baylor. How far can Hubert Davis take the Tar Heels in March Madness?

The 2022 NCAA Tournament has featured a ton of shocking moments and UNC nearly added another one to the record books. North Carolina built a 25-point lead over No. 1 seed Baylor with 10:08 to go before giving it all back to the Bears, who forced overtime before the Tar Heels rallied to win 93-86 in overtime to upset the defending national champions.

The turning point in the game was the ejection of Brady Manek, who received a Flagrant 2 for an elbow to the face of a Baylor player and was ejected with 10:08 to go. UNC had a 67-42 lead at that point and was outscored 38-13 by the Bears for the remainder of regulation to force overtime.

The extra session played to the benefit of the Tar Heels, who took advantage of foul trouble from the Bears to pull away and secure a huge upset. Hubert Davis’ team is now awaiting the winner of tomorrow’s East Region matchup between 4-seed UCLA and 5-seed Saint Mary’s in the Sweet 16.

How far can UNC go in March Madness?

The first 30 minutes of this game, combined with UNC’s dominant effort against Marquette in the first round, suggest that Davis has finally helped the Tar Heels unlock their true potential. North Carolina was ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 but fell out after struggling mightily against potential tournament teams, setting the stage for a late-season surge that began with a huge win at Duke to ruin Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game.

As long as Manek doesn’t draw a suspension ahead of the Sweet 16, which seems unlikely at this point, the Tar Heels will have an outstanding shot to take out either UCLA or Saint Mary’s to reach the Elite Eight. It is also worth mentioning that the East’s No. 2 seed, Kentucky, was bounced in the Round of 32 by Saint Peter’s so this portion of the bracket is truly wide open.

With the two most dominant teams off the board, the East feels like it is the region where you will end up with a higher seed reaching the Final Four. North Carolina has some work to do to clean up the mess from their near-historic collapse against Baylor but there is plenty to feel good about if you’re a UNC fan at the moment.

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