Hello, friends.
In case you haven't heard, the NCAA Tournament was cancelled this year due to COVID-19 — but that doesn't mean March Madness is totally gone. We here at the DTH put together a 64-person bracket of the most important figures in UNC basketball history (vote here).
With the first two rounds wrapped up, let's take a look at all the notable moments from the first "weekend," and who's left standing in the Sweet 16.
Round of 64
- Our four No. 1 seeds — Dean Smith, Roy Williams, Michael Jordan and Tyler Hansbrough — were all unanimous winners in the first round, with nary a vote going against them. Understandable. If someone picked James Michael McAdoo over His Airness, we would've had a serious problem.
- No love for Matt Doherty, who falls at the hands of Danny Green and becomes the only coach in the field to suffer a first-round exit. It wasn't particularly close, either.
- A few results that might raise eyebrows: Joel Berry over Kenny Smith, Wayne Ellington over Ed Cota and Kendall Marshall over Bob McAdoo. Recency bias, valuing team success over individual accolades, or both?
- Charlie Scott handled first-year guard Cole Anthony in the first round, collecting 84 percent of votes.
- No love for the great Tyler Zeller, either, who doesn't collect a single vote against Vince Carter. Tough scene.
- Sean May garners 89 percent of votes in an easy win over Brendan Haywood. Now seems like as good a time as any to mention that I didn’t include May's teammate, Rashad McCants, in this bracket, because, well...yeah.
- The highest-seeded to not win unanimously in the first round was James Worthy, who lost to Mitch Kupchak. Also, whichever one of you voted for Isaiah Hicks over Phil Ford...I'd like a word.
- Theo Pinson edges out Harrison Barnes, while Eric Montross handles Brice Johnson to advance. More examples of #RINGZ culture?
- I don't know about y'all, but I had Coby White making a deep run in this tournament. The hair, the hot shooting, the meme-ability...he's got it all. Unfortunately, my pick was but more proof that I suck at filling out brackets. White fell in the first round to Bill Guthridge.
Round of 32
- Roy, Dean and MJ all remain flawless, while Hansbrough wins comfortably, but not unanimously, against Montross to advance.
- Frank McGuire, meanwhile, becomes the second coach to exit the field, falling to Sam Perkins.
- Lennie Rosenbluth cruises past Joel Berry for a Sweet 16 berth. Along with Billy Cunningham, he'll be one of the two oldest players in the field to make it to the third round.
- Why do we love March Madness? The guard battles, of course...and in what we can only presume would be a perimeter clash for the ages, Jerry Stackhouse takes a close one against Raymond Felton. I wonder if he did anything approaching this.
- Luke Maye’s tournament run comes to an end against James Worthy, while Sean May shuts out Shammond Williams to advance.
- Network execs are salivating at thought of an impending Ty Lawson/Tyler Hansbrough matchup — the two won a national title together in 2009 — after Lawson knocked off Rasheed Wallace in the second round.
- Finally, after handling Coby White in round one, Bill Guthridge continues his run with a victory over Rick Fox. Onions!
Take a look at the third round games below, and make sure to cast your votes here to help determine the greatest UNC basketball players/coaches of all time.
