The North Carolina Tar Heels are one of college basketball’s premier programs with six national championships, 20 Final Fours, 28 Elite Eights and 34 Sweet 16 appearances. They are among the winningest college programs of all time and have a history that is almost unmatched.
When you go to North Carolina, playing in the Big Dance is an expectation and most years so is getting to a Sweet 16 and beyond. While there have been some rocky years here and there, UNC has been in the tournament 36 times since the 1982 season. With another tournament looming, we wanted to look back at the Tar Heels’ NCAA Tournament history since ’82 which features Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, Sean May, Raymond Felton, Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Marcus Paige, Joel Berry and more.
Here’s a look at how the Tar Heels have done in the tournament since 1982 when Jordan drained the jumper to beat Georgetown to deliver Dean Smith a title in Chapel Hill.
More NCAA Tournament History from the College Wires Network:
The Tar Heels went 32-2 in 1981-82 and won the national championship by downing Georgetown. The winning shot was hit by Jordan, and it gave UNC a 63-62 victory.
1983
In 1983, the Heels went 28-8 and won two NCAA games before falling to Georgia in the Sweet 16.
1984
A 28-3 season came to an end in the NCAA tournament when Indiana downed the Tar Heels in the Sweet 16.
1985
UNC wound up 27-9 in 1984-85 and was ousted from the Big Dance in the Elite Eight by eventual national champion Villanova.
1986
The 1985-86 season saw North Carolina finish 28-6 and win a pair of games in the NCAA tourney before losing to Lousiville, 84-79.
1987
The Tar Heels were 14-0 in the ACC and went 32-4 overall but fell to Syracuse, 79-75, after winning their first three NCAA Tournament games.
1988
In 1987-88, Dean Smith led the Tar Heels to a 27-7 mark and three wins in the NCAA tournament. The run was stopped in an 18-point loss to Arizona in the Elite Eight.
1989
1990
A rare season with double-digit losses as North Carolina finished 21-13. It managed a pair of NCAA wins before being bounced by Arkansas.
1991
The 1990-91 season saw UNC win 29 of 35 games and make it to the Final Four. However, it was downed by Kansas, 79-73.
1992
A 23-10 mark had its bumps and potholes. UNC was crushed by Duke in the ACC Tournament and ousted from the NCAA Tournament in its opening game by Ohio State.
1993
Chris Webber called timeout. Shortly thereafter, the Heels celebrated a 77-71 win and a national championship.
1994
UNC followed its title season by going 28-7 and downing Liberty in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. However, Boston College ended dreams of a repeat with a 75-72 victory a few days later.
1995
Another trip to the Final Four came up short as Arkansas finished UNC, 75-68, on April 1, 1995.
1996
The Heels went 21-11. Texas Tech’s Darvin Ham shattered the backboard and the Red Raiders crashed their season, 92-73.
1997
Back to the Final Four in 1997 but it was not to be. A 16-game winning streak was blown apart by Arizona in the Final Four.
1998
Not another national semifinal loss! Yep, the Tar Heels made it to the Final Four but were upended by Utah in the Alamodome.
1999
A 24-10 season that wound up in a major disappointment as Weber State stunned the Heels in a first-round NCAA game.
2000
Once again the national semifinal proved troublesome. UNC won four games in the NCAA tournament before losing by 12 to Florida on April 1 in the RCA Dome in the Final Four.
2001
Matt Doherty led UNC to a 26-7 mark but the Heels’ season ended with an 82-74 loss to Penn State.
2004
In their return to the NCAA Tournament after a two-year absence, Roy Williams and UNC went 19-11 and downed Air Force in the NCAA tournament before losing to Texas in the round of 32.
2005
The Roy Williams hire paid off as UNC won their first national championship since 1993 with a 75-70 win over Illinois.
2006
The defending national champs went out in the second round at the hands of upstart George Mason.
2007
Three wins in the NCAA tournament saw the Heels gain a date with Georgetown. After UNC blew a double-digit lead, the game went to overtime and the Hoyas outlasted the Heels, 96-84. A disappointing end for a really good team.
2008
Roy Williams met his former team, Kansas, in the Final Four and the Jayhawks upended the Heels, 84-66. Kansas got off to a big start and UNC never recovered.
2009
Revenge! Another national championship for North Carolina. The Heels downed Villanova and Michigan State in convincing fashion in the Final Four to claim the title.
2011
A trip to the Elite 8 was spoiled as Kentucky outlasted the Tar Heels in East Region.
2012
Roy Williams and UNC had another tourney date with Kansas and the Jayhawks bounced their former coach, 80-67. The Tar heels bid for a Final Four was spoiled due with injuries to Kendall Marshall and John Henson.
2013
A nice win over Villanova opened the NCAA tournament at Sprint Center but Kansas got its old coach again, 70-58 in the Round of 32.
2014
A 24-10 season wound down with a two-point loss to Iowa State in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
2015
In the NCAA Tournament, the Tar Heels got by a good Harvard team and then Arkansas before falling to Wisconsin in the Sweet 16. UNC had a lead in the second half but the Badgers proved to be too much en route to their championship game appearance.
2016
Oh, the pain. A national championship date with Villanova came down to the wire and a 10-game winning streak was snapped for UNC on a last-second 3-pointer by Kris Jenkins after Marcus Paige hit an impressive shot to tie it seconds before. Ouch.
2017
The pain of losing only lasted a year as UNC slipped past Oregon by a point and then downed Gonzaga for another national title.
2018
Lipscomb was no match for UNC in the first round of the Big Dance but the Heels were no match for Texas A&M in the next game in the Round of 32 as the season came to a disappointing end.
2019
No. 1 seed North Carolina got past Iona and Washington before falling to a red-hot Auburn team in the Sweet 16. UNC had multiple players ailing with flu-like symptoms.
2021
An 18-11 season ended Roy Williams’ coaching career. He left with consecutive losses, to Florida State in the ACC tourney and Wisconsin the first round of the NCAA.
2022
In Hubert Davis’ first year as head coach, he took a team that was on the bubble in February to a magical run. After spoiling Coach K’s final home game, the Tar Heels went on a March run as a No. 8 seed.
They upset No. 1 Baylor in the second round, beat No.4 UCLA in the Sweet 16 and then took down Cinderella No. 15 Saint Peter’s in the Elite 8.
From there, they beat Duke again to end Coach K’s career in the Final Four before losing to Kansas in the national championship game.
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