The North Carolina Tar Heels are the No. 6 seed in the South Region in the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Carolina (24-8) will play No. 11 VCU on Thursday, March 19, in Greenville, S.C.
The Rams are 27-7 and have won 16 of their last 17 games, including a three-game sweep of Duquesne, Saint Joseph’s and Dayton to win the Atlantic 10 title last weekend in Pittsburgh.
This is Carolina’s 55th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the second most all-time. It is the fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in five seasons under head coach Hubert Davis, who has led the Tar Heels to an 8-3 record in the NCAA Tournament.
The Tar Heels have won six NCAA Tournament championships, played in a record 21 Final Fours and won 134 NCAA Tournament games, the second-most all-time.
Carolina and VCU will be playing for the first time in men’s basketball. The winner will play the winner of No. 3 Illinois and No. 14 Penn on Saturday, March 21, also in Greenville.
The Tar Heels began their run to the 2017 NCAA championship in Greenville with first- and second-round wins over Texas Southern and Arkansas.
Carolina has played 13 games this season against teams that are in the 68-team NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels went 7-6, splitting a pair of games against Clemson and Duke; beating Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State and Virginia; and losing to Miami (Fla.), Michigan State, NC State and SMU. UNC Sports Information