Getting into the 68-team NCAA Tournament field was a long, anxious process for the North Carolina men’s basketball team, which had to sweat out Selection Sunday in a way that a program of its pedigree isn’t accustomed to doing.
Getting to their first March Madness game has proven to be equally challenging for the Tar Heels.
Coach Hubert Davis’ team arrived late in Dayton, Ohio, Monday and missed its scheduled news conference and practice ahead of its First Four game Tuesday night against San Diego State. The NCAA acknowledged the change in plans, which it described in a statement as being related to “travel issues.”
Those issues, according to the Raleigh News & Observer, occurred when North Carolina’s NCAA-chartered flight arrived late at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The plane landed in Dayton at 6:29 p.m. ET, about two-and-a-half hours behind its originally-scheduled arrival.