He believes he’s only attended one football game at the arena. But when the Tar Heels face Syracuse on Saturday in the Final Four, the stadium that seats 72,220 people on Sundays will host a different sport.
“It’ll be just like playing at Syracuse, which is kind of fitting, I guess,” Jackson said. “You’ve got to get used to the depth perception, probably, which is (why) it’s good we’re getting there early and we’ll have practice in the arena.”
The extra shots could be crucial for all four teams playing in this weekend’s Final Four, as NRG Stadium has historically posed a threat for 3-point shooters. This led basketball statistician Ken Pomeroy to publish an article in 2015 called “The NRG effect.”
Since opening in 2002, NRG Stadium has hosted 16 college basketball games. The 32 teams that have played in those contests have shot a combined 32.3 percent on 3-pointers.
According to Pomeroy, those results are about two standard deviations off the expectation when compared to those teams’ season-long 3-point shooting percentages.
These elements could favor UNC, as the other three teams still left in the NCAA Tournament rank in the top 60 in 3-point attempt percentage — which measures a team’s reliance on 3-pointers.
According to KenPom.com, Syracuse ranks 40th in the country in that category, taking 42.2 percent of its field goals from beyond the perimeter. North Carolina, meanwhile, ranks 337th in the nation in 3-point attempt percentage (26.8).
“I think it might possibly give us a slight advantage because we get so many of our points at the basket,” said senior Marcus Paige.
