A Tournament of North Carolina's Tournament Wins (Elite 8)

With North Carolina not invited to participate in the 2023 NCAA tournament, I read someone on Twitter roast Tar Heel fans (like me) that we are just going to sit and watch old tournament games to fill the void.

Hmm.  What a great idea.

Watching old tournament games sure is fun and it can make you remember the good times while the bad times forced you to have nothing to do.  So instead of just watching old North Carolina hoops games, how about we create out own tournament of Heels' NCAA tournament wins to see which one is the best.

So below are the 32 best games, and I divided them up into four regions -- Jordan, McGuire, Williams and Smith regions. We will battle over the next three weeks to see who comes out as the best game in Carolina tournament history. The seedings have the six tournament champions getting the No. 1 seeds and the top No. 2 seeds. From there, just the best games no matter where they happened in the tournament. 

Here is the entire tournament revealed. In a few days, we will have our first round winners and our Sweet 16. Here ya go: 

JORDAN REGION
1 - UNC/Georgetown (1982) vs 8 - UNC/Notre Dame (1985)
4 - UNC/Oklahoma (1990) vs 5 - UNC/Cincinnati (1993)
3 - UNC/Ohio State (1946) vs 6 - UNC/Villanova (1982)
2 - UNC/Michigan State (1957) vs 7 - UNC/Ohio (2012)

1-UNC/Georgetown (1982) vs 4-UNC/Oklahoma (1990)
2-UNC/Michigan State (1957) vs 3-UNC/Ohio State (1946)

1-UNC/Georgetown (1982) vs 2-UNC/Michigan State (1957)

MCGUIRE REGION
1 - UNC/Kansas (1957) vs 8 - UNC/Baylor (2022)
4 - UNC/Kentucky (1995) vs 5 - UNC/Oregon (2017)
3 - UNC/Kentucky (2017) vs 6 - UNC/Temple (1991)
2 - UNC/Duke (2022) vs 7 - UNC/Oklahoma (2009)

1-UNC/Kansas (1957) vs 4-UNC/Kentucky (1995)
2-UNC/Duke (2022) vs 3-UNC/Kentucky (2017)

1-UNC/Kansas (1957) vs 2-UNC/Duke (2022)

WILLIAMS REGION
1 - UNC/Illinois (2005) vs 8 - UNC/Purdue (1977)
4 - UNC/UNLV (1977) vs 5 - UNC/Stanford (2000)
3 - UNC/Davidson (1969) vs 6 - UNC/Notre Dame (1977)
2 - UNC/Gonzaga (2017) vs 7 - UNC/Loyola Marymount (1988)

1-UNC/Illinois (2005) vs 5-UNC/Stanford (2000)
2-UNC/Gonzaga (2017) vs 3-UNC/Davidson (1969)

1-UNC/Illinois (2005) vs 2-UNC/Gonzaga (2017)

SMITH REGION
1 - UNC/Michigan (1993) vs 8 - UNC/James Madison (1982)
4 - UNC/Virginia (1981) vs 5 - UNC/Tulsa (2000)
3 - UNC/Houston (1982) vs 6 - UNC/Villanova (2005)
2 - UNC/Michigan State (2009) vs 7 - UNC/Charlotte (1998)

1-UNC/Michigan (1993) vs 4-UNC/Virginia (1981)
2-UNC/Michigan State (2009) vs 3-UNC/Houston (1982)

1-UNC/Michigan (1993) vs 2-UNC/Michigan State (2009)

Down to the Elite 8. Up to this point, the matchups have been fairly easy. Of all the great tournament games in Carolina history, some are just so iconic that it is nearly impossible to top them. However, we've arrived to a point where now we have to pick between those legendary games. This will be difficult.

The Jordan Region final features that 1982 UNC/Georgetown game up against 1957's UNC/Michigan State. The 1982 game takes this one in a rather easy fashion, but that win over the Spartans in '57 is still one of the most unsung games in Carolina lore.

Over in the McGuire region, we have the game that took place the day after the Michigan State game in 1957 -- UNC/Kansas. They go up against UNC/Duke in 2022. Wow!  A power packed matchup that is almost unfair to choose. How can you not go with UNC/Duke? It was the lone game in the sport's biggest rivalry and the Heels win ended Mike Krzyzewski's career. But ... I gotta go with the 1957 title game. As great as important as UNC/Duke was, that win over Kansas -- rivalry aside -- was so much bigger and better. Again, the Heels went to triple overtime to beat Michigan State on Saturday and then had to go to triple overtime to beat Kansas on Sunday. How unreal is that? Add in the fact that the Heels beat Kansas in Kansas City ... oh, and beating the best player of that generation, Wilt Chamberlain, in that game. Without that win, who knows what North Carolina basketball would become? I know it is a matchup of eras, but 1957 wins this one.

Whew. Now in the Williams Region, we get a battle of two champions. The 2005 game against Illinois vs the 2017 game against Gonzaga. There are parallels and differences between the two. UNC/Illinois team was filled with elite talent that got off to a rough start at Chapel Hill and were in the middle of one of the turning points in Carolina history. The UNC/Gonzaga game featured a more scrappy bunch of guys who weren't headed for NBA stardom but were as cohesive a unit in Carolina history. Both were redemption teams of sorts, as UNC/Illinois was digging out from the disastrous 2002 season and putting the Tar Heels back at the top of the college hoops world. UNC/Gonzaga was literally redemption, as much of the team came back who watched Villanova's Kris Jenkins' buzzer beater rip their hearts out of the 2016 championship game. I'm going with 2005. That game saw the Heels dominating for much of the contest before Illinois made a furious comeback to tie it late. Big play by Marvin Williams and free throws from Raymond Felton gave UNC their first title since 1993, gave Roy Williams his first title, and really set the stage for arguably the greatest stretch of Carolina basketball success. 

Finally, the Smith Region. This one is easy. The UNC/Michigan State game in 2009 was a coronation of sorts. This team was determined to avenge that horrible 2008 Final Four loss to Kansas. They blew through the tournament with so much star power that this was the most dominant tournament run in Carolina history. But this is about the game as much as the team, and the 1993 had some of those same narratives. This UNC team was two years removed from the 1991 team that lost to Roy Williams and Kansas in the Final Four (and robbed us of a UNC-Duke championship game). While not so much the star power of 2009, this was an extremely sound Carolina team that could do anything. The largely upperclassmen Tar Heels went up against the Fab Five Michigan Wolverines who they lost to in Hawaii earlier in the season. This is my favorite championship game to rewatch, as both Michigan and Carolina traded punches and runs. Seeing Eric Montross and Chris Webber battle it out, while Dean Smith's system went up against the pure talent of the Fab Five. Big shots from Donald Williams and a huge mistake by Webber gave the Heels Dean Smith's second and final championship.

So there you have it. Our Final Four is:

UNC/Georgetown (1982) vs UNC/Kansas (1957)
UNC/Illinois (2005) vs UNC/Michigan (1993)

Four championship games and all iconic in their own right. 

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