Back Tar Heels To Make Statement As Tournament Opens

North Carolina vs. San Diego State, 9:10 ET

The NCAA Tournament kicks off tonight! Sure, you might not realize it or even think of today as the official start, but in reality, the bracket is the field of 68, not 64. The first two games happen today, and we are ready for them. They do get to the field of 66 tonight and then another two play in games will give us the field of 64 after that. I have a lot of games I want to play in the tournament, but I already like this one between North Carolina and San Diego State that unofficially kicks it off.

North Carolina has gotten a lot of crap lately because they were considered a bit of an overrated team and many felt like they shouldn't make the tournament. The Tar Heels ended up not being that great this season in terms of the actual wins, but they were 22-13 overall. I've made this case before, but let me briefly do it again. North Carolina may not have a ton of great wins on their schedule, but they have been competitive in almost every game. The other thing that I look at is this - if you picked the top 68 teams in the country, I think everyone would keep them on their list. I know that isn't the way things work, because there are automatic bids as well, but even of the remaining 30-something teams that get into the tournament, I think North Carolina is one of the more competitive teams available. Of the 13 losses they suffered this season, there were six of them by double-digits. Five of them were by a single possession. Let's not act like they were terrible, they deserve the chance to play in this one.

Nov 26, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Texas A&M Aggie forward Pharrel Payne (21) lays up the ball against Oregon Duck center Nate Bittle (32) during the second half at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey (Tyge) O'Donnell-Imagn Images

San Diego State was also deserving of this spot, and actually probably got the raw deal with this draw. They finished the season 4th in the Mountain West Conference. New Mexico State won the regular season, and three of the four teams that finished above the Aztecs made the tournament. Looking at their schedule, I'm not overly impressive with many things other than one very specific victory. They were able to beat Houston on a neutral court. That's one of very few losses that Houston suffered this season. They also beat Creighton early in the season as well. The Mountain West just isn't that great of a conference, unfortunately. They lost six times in the conference games, falling at home to Utah State and UNLV, and dropping games on the road to New Mexico, Colorado State, Utah State, and UNLV. They didn't make it out of their first tournament game, losing to Boise State by 10 points.

In this game, I think the Tar Heels are the better team. They've actually played really good basketball lately. A really stupid lane violation ruined their chance of upsetting Duke. Keep in mind during that game, North Carolina was down around 20 points. I don't really expect this to be all that close of a game and would take North Carolina as a favorite over pretty much all of the Mountain West teams. They should make a statement here that they belong. I'll back North Carolina -4.5.

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024