VCU Proves Payroll Isn’t Everything, Stuns North Carolina In Historic 19-Point NCAA Tournament Comeback Win

So, about those mid-major teams not being able to compete with the higher payrolls from the power-four conferences. On Thursday night, VCU pulled off one of the wildest comebacks we've seen this season, sending North Carolina home in the first round thanks to an 82-78 win. 

Earlier in the day, High Point had pulled off the upset win over Wisconsin, but what we all witnessed from the Tar Heels on Thursday night will be talked about for quite some time. 

We have seen diasters in the NCAA Tournament, but UNC might take the cake for the biggest burnout of the postseason, and it might not even be close. 

At least North Carolina doesn’t have to travel too far on its trip home after choking away a 19-point lead in the second half against VCU. 

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In front of a stunned crowd, North Carolina looked more like the mid-major squad compared to VCU, going 0-9 from the field over the final 7:44 of game action, along with 4-9 from the free throw line. 

There was also a five-second call late in the game that was essentially the perfect way to sum up the tailspin that head coach Hubert Davis was witnessing in real time. 

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For all the talk about the expensive rosters of blue-blood teams, like North Carolina, I don't imagine their fans were thinking a first round exit was on the agenda to end this season. 

At the 14:58 mark of the second half, UNC was up by 19 points, needing to just hold off a VCU barrage, along with not being sloppy with the basketball. Well, they hit the trifecta of things not to do, with VCU storming back to send this game into overtime. 

It was as if the Tar Heels were stuck in quicksand, and even the foul line wouldn't save them. The sixth-biggest comeback in NCAA Tournament history allows VCU to head back to the hotel with a chance to continue this run, while UNC is left wondering how it went so wrong, so fast. 

VCU's Terrence Hill Jr. finished the Tar Heels at the free throw line, while ending the game with 34 points in the dramatic comeback win, which had UNC fans sitting in total shock as the team exited the court. 

Did folks at home think VCU had a chance before the game started? Sure, but I would imagine most college basketball fans had already turned that channel when UNC took a nineteen-point lead with just under thirteen minutes remaining. 

VCU proves payroll isn’t everything, stuns North Carolina in historic 19-point NCAA Tournament comeback. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

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Now, the return on investment for North Carolina boosters who helped fund this basketball team, outside the revenue-sharing from the athletic department, is non-existent. 

This part of putting together a high-dollar team is the risk donors take each season with their checkbook, knowing the only satisfaction they will receive is watching their favorite team cut down the nets. 

"What do you mean? To go back to what Seth said, just because you miss a shot doesn't mean something is wrong. We had shots at the basket, executed plays and missed eight free throws. Sometimes the ball doesn't go in," North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis said postgame. 

Yeah, that answer is not going to sit well with UNC fans, but I guess they will try again next season. 

For VCU, it's all about living in a world where getting to the postseason and making noise is how the school will raise money to put together a good enough roster to hang with teams like North Carolina. 

"This is a storied program, I'm very fortunate to be here. There are a lot of players and coaches who came before us. As my dad would say, we aren't the greatest, we're just the latest," VCU head coach Phil Martelli Jr. said postgame. 

There was even a DJ Khaled reference following the shocking win, thanks to the VCU mantra that hangs within their basketball facility, and a mantra that this team lives by on a daily basis. 

""Credit to DJ Khaled. He says it in the beginning of one of his songs, ‘God Did’. You either wanna be a part of this or you don’t," Phil Martelli said postgame. 

The conversation in college athletics might lean pretty heavily towards the blue-blood schools putting together rosters that cost upwards of $15 to $20 million a season. 

On Thursday night, it was another mid-major program that is nowhere near UNC in terms of payroll, pulling off the upset win that shocked college basketball fans. 

Or in other words, this was March Madness.