The 2025 NCAA Tournament begins Tuesday from Dayton, Ohio, with two First Four games. The fun begins when No. 16 seed Saint Francis faces No. 16 seed Alabama State. The winner of that game will face No. 1 overall seed Auburn on Thursday in the first round.

For a few minutes, it looked like the Tar Heels were going to validate their critics. They committed turnovers on four of their first six possessions against a San Diego State defense ranked 13th in the country on KenPom. UNC's offense should have been good enough to hang with that unit, but it was a bad beginning.