UNC Basketball: 2019 NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional Preview

Sweet 16, Part Two

Kansas

Roy Williams versus the last team he coached? Why, what could possibly go wrong? There’s no bad history that’s been nicknamed a curse by Carolina fans, right? Ha, nonsense.

Wait… Oh, that’s right. Three straight losses to Kansas in the NCAA Tournament since Williams has been at the head coach at UNC (2008, 2012, 2013). The “Kansas Curse.” Yes, right. Not great.

For what it’s worth, this year’s Jayhawk unit doesn’t have much rock to its chalk (or chalk to its rock?), with Lagerald Vick (14.1 points) and Udoka Azubuike (13.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.6 blocks) not available for Bill Self’s Tournament run. Without a veteran backcourt — Devon Dotson, for as well as he’s played lately, is still a freshman; Quentin Grimes has been inconsistent, ranging from electric to dormant from game to game — it’s hard to see this particular team making a deep run through the Midwest Region.

UNC still probably doesn’t want to face the Jayhawks in the Sweet 16, especially not in Kansas City, but it’s possible that the team’s inconsistency, inexperience and lack of depth could catch up to them in the first weekend. A Sweet 16 matchup wouldn’t spell impending doom for the Tar Heels, since this is one of the lesser Kansas teams that Bill Self has fielded in the past several years.

Northeastern 

Serbian senior guard Vasa Pusica doesn’t only have a really cool name (perhaps the coolest name in the Tournament, if it were up to me to crown such an award of high-esteem), but he has the game to back it up: 17.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.2 three-pointers per game an incinerating 64.1 true shooting percentage.

A first round 13-4 upset isn’t an insane proposition to make, and hot-shooting could even propel the Huskies past the winner of Auburn and New Mexico State if everything falls just right. A potential Sweet 16 matchup with Northeastern wouldn’t be much of a fight for a larger, faster, stronger, more-talented team, though.