It seemed like everybody other than those in powder blue wanted North Carolina out of the 2025 men's NCAA Tournament. The Heels famously went just 1-12 in Quad 1 games between the regular season and conference tournament, only bringing their record back toward respectability thanks to the underbelly of a historically down ACC. And yet, UNC managed to sneak in anyway, an inclusion that had college basketball fans around the country crying foul — and circling the team's First Four matchup with San Diego State.
But instead of getting exposed, Hubert Davis' team unleashed weeks pent-up frustration, delivering a 95-68 win that also served as the perfect response to the program's haters. Everything was clicking for Carolina on Tuesday night: RJ Davis couldn't miss from 3, the team gout out in transition and imposed its tempo and San Diego State shot just 39.7% from the floor. It was as thorough a beatdown as you're liable to see in the Big Dance, more befitting a 1-16 matchup than a game between ostensible equals.
But where does it fall among the biggest blowouts in NCAA Tournament history? Alas, while the Heels answered a ton of questions with their performance, they fell just a little bit shy of making history.
The biggest blowouts in NCAA Tournament history
UNC had its work cut out for it to beat the record for scoring margin in a tourney game: That mark sits at 69, set by Loyola Chicago in a 111-42 win over Tennessee Tech back in 1963. Only two other games have finished with a margin north of 50: 1998 Kansas over Prairie View, and 2009 UConn over Chattanooga.
Carolina at times pushed its lead north of 40, but the Aztecs did just enough to keep things at least a little bit respectable (or at least respectable enough to avoid the history books). A list of the top 11 most lopsided scores is below.
Year | Team | Opponent | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
1963 | Loyola Chicago | Tennessee Tech | 69 (111-42) |
1998 | Kansas | Prairie View | 58 (110-52) |
2009 | UConn | Chattanooga | 56 (103-47) |
1967 | UCLA | Wyoming | 49 (109-60) |
1986 | Syracuse | Brown | 49 (101-52) |
1964 | Duke | UConn | 47 (101-54) |
1965 | DePaul | Eastern Kentucky | 47 (99-52) |
2002 | Duke | Winthrop | 47 (84-37) |
2013 | Syracuse | Montana | 47 (81-34) |
1995 | Kentucky | Mount St. Mary's | 46 (113-67) |
2013 | VCU | Akron | 46 (88-42) |
The most recent games on the list came back in 2013, when 4-seed Syracuse beat 13-seed Montana by 47 and 5-seed VCU beat 12-seed Akron by 46. The Rams would go on to lose to Michigan in the second round. The Orange, however, road that momentum all the way to the Final Four, losing to the Wolverines by five points in the national semifinal. UNC has a long way to go to get there, but this was a pretty good start.