North Carolina Tar Heels Mens Basketball Tickets
The North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball team is a Division I program for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The team is located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and play their home games at the Dean E. Smith Center. The Dean E. Smith Center, known as the “Dean Dome” has a capacity of 21,750 people and was built in 1986. In the team’s tenure at the storied venue, they have four seasons where they finished undefeated at home. The arena is also notable for the fact that legendary coach Dean Smith coached in the building named after him for his final eleven seasons as coach. The team is currently coached by Roy Williams, who after taking over a team that had missed the NCAA Tournament two years in a row, has led the Tar Heels to a 257-68 record, winning two National Championships, and the Elite Eight or later in five of his nine seasons coaching the team.
The team played its first game in 1910, and from 1921 to 1953, the team was one of the best in the country, holding an astounding .733 winning percentage including a perfect 26-0 season in 1924. 1957 saw the team win its first NCAA Championship under the direction of coach Frank McGuire. After some recruiting violations forced McGuire out, the team hired one of his assistants, Dean Smith, to coach. From 1961 to 1997, the team reached seemingly untenable heights. Smith led the team to 879 victories, with 17 ACC Championships, and 27 NCAA Tournaments appearances. In those 27 appearances, the team made it to the Final Four 11 times, winning the National Championship twice.
The team’s storied history has led to a myriad of records. A select number of such records include 27 straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 1975 to 2001, and a currently active 56 game winning streak against Clemson in Chapel Hill, who still have not won in Chapel Hill. The team’s 2,065 career wins places them third on the list of most wins behind Kentucky and Kansas. The team has had 39 players selected in the first round of the NBA Draft.
There are rivalries and there are rivalries, and the one between Duke and North Carolina is the definition of a rivalry game. Since their first meeting on January 24, 1920, the team’s 234 meetings have all been hotly contested matchups. The distance between the two schools, just eight miles down Tobacco Road, as well as each of their national success leads this rivalry to take on a life of its own. North Carolina holds the lead in the season series 132-102, and the Tar Heels have won the two team’s last matchup, a decisive win in Durham.
