Everything You Need To Know About NC Men’s And Women’s Teams In March Madness

March Madness is here and so is online sports betting in North Carolina.

For the first time, North Carolina residents can legally place bets on teams in the Big Dance, including in-state schools.

With a strong contingent of teams from the Tar Heel State in both the men’s and women’s brackets, plus several schools from surrounding states in the tournament, North Carolinians will be busy like tens of millions of other Americans creating and studying 68-team brackets this month.

The ACC leads the way

Almost every ACC program in North Carolina has a team in the NCAA tournament. UNC, NC State and Duke men’s and women’s programs all earned bids. Wake Forest’s men’s team will play its NIT opener against another in-state school, Appalachian State.

NC Men’s Teams

On the men’s side, pundits expect UNC to be among the Final Four teams.

The Tar Heels are the No. 1 seed in the West Region. They begin dancing on Thursday at 2:45 p.m. in Charlotte on CBS against the winner of Tuesday’s game between Howard and Wagner. An intriguing storyline for the Tar Heels is the chance that they will face the team of former UNC player Caleb Love who transferred to No. 2-seeded Arizona. The Wildcats are in the same region as the Tar Heels and Love is the Pac-12 Player of the Year. On the road, he averaged a league-best 20.1 points per game during the regular season.

With a No. 4 seed in the South Region, Duke begins the tournament facing No. 13 Vermont on Friday at 7:10 p.m. on CBS. The Blue Devils earned an at-large bid after being a top-25 team all season.

NC State is also in the South Region as a No. 11 seed. The winners of the ACC tournament championship earned an auto bid and will face No. 6 seed Texas Tech at approximately 9:40 p.m. on Thursday on CBS.

NC Women’s Teams

NC State also enters the women’s March Madness as a No. 3 seed in the Portland Region. The Wolfpack begin their march towards the Final Four facing Chattanooga on March 23 at 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU. This marks the seventh consecutive NCAA tournament appearance for the NC State women who have a 27-6 record and a No. 11 national ranking.

Olympic gold medalist and former Tennessee player Kara Lawson revitalized Duke in a short period. In her fourth year, she has the Blue Devils performing their best since 2017. The team enters the tournament as a No. 7 seed in the Portland Region. They face No. 10-seeded Richmond on Friday at 2:30 pm. on ESPNews.

Led by dynamic senior guard Deja Kelly, UNC has a No. 8 seed and begins play in the Albany Region, the same region as the undefeated No. 1 team in the nation, South Carolina. Kelly, who secured another lucrative NIL deal this week to represent Tommy Hilfiger, and her team play another Power 5 team, Michigan, on Friday at 11:30 a.m. on ESPN2 on South Carolina’s home court in Columbia, SC.

Virginia and South Carolina bettors may head to North Carolina

Since Virginia doesn’t allow residents to bet on in-state teams and sports betting isn’t legal in South Carolina, residents of those states may cross state borders to place bets in North Carolina. Several teams from Virginia and South Carolina are in the NCAA postseason mix.

Men’s contenders

South Carolina has three men’s teams in the Big Dance including the state’s flagship university, ranked No. 16 nationally with a 26-7 record. As a No. 6 seed, the Gamecocks will face the Pac-12’s Oregon in the Midwest Region on Thursday at 4 p.m. on TNT.

Clemson is also a No. 6 seed with placement in the West Region. The Tigers begin play against No. 11 seed New Mexico on Friday at 3:10 p.m. on truTV.

The College of Charleston hopes to make a splash in the tournament as a No. 13 seed in the West Region. The Cougars face an SEC team, No. 4 Alabama, on Friday at 7:35 p.m. on truTV.

The University of Virginia is a First Four play-in team. The No. 10-seeded Cavaliers’ hopes hinge on winning against No. 10-seed Colorado State Tuesday at 9:10 p.m. on truTV. If they win, they advance to face No. 7 Texas in the Midwest Region on Thursday at 6:50 p.m. on TNT.

James Madison earned an auto bid by winning the Sun Belt Conference tournament. The No. 12-seeded Dukes enter March Madness for the first time in 11 years. JMU is in the South Region and plays No. 5 Wisconsin on Friday at 9:40 p.m. on CBS.

Women’s contenders

As the overall No. 1 seed South Carolina is the favorite to win it all this season.

Led by the SEC Coach of the Year and Hall of Famer Dawn Staley, it is hard to imagine that the Gamecocks will not be in the national title game in Cleveland on April 7. The Gamecocks begin the tournament facing the winner of a First Four game between Sacred Heart and another home-state team, No. 16-seeded Presbyterian. However, South Carolina will be without star center Kamilla Cardoso who will serve a one-game suspension handed to her after an altercation in the SEC Tournament championship game against LSU.

The Presbyterian Blue Hose enter the tournament after winning the Big South Championship for the first time in school history, securing an auto bid and a play-in game against Sacred Heart on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. on ESPNU.

No. 4 seed Virginia Tech enters the tournament with the injury status of its star, the ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley in question. The Hokies play No. 13 Marshall in the Portland region on Friday at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

As mentioned above, No. 10 Richmond begins play in the tournament against Duke. The Spiders earned an auto bid after winning the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship for the first time in program history. They are a strong underdog with a 29-5 record including a 14-0 home record.

Men’s and women’s March Madness schedule and brackets

Men

Official NCAA Bracket

  • First Four: March 19-20
  • First round: March 21-22
  • Second round: March 23-24
  • Sweet 16: March 28-29
  • Elite Eight: March 30-31
  • Final Four: Saturday, April 6
  • Championship game: Monday, April 8, at 9:20 p.m. on TBS, State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Women

Official NCAA Bracket

  • First Four: March 20-21
  • First round: March 22-23
  • Second round: March 24-25
  • Sweet 16: March 29-30
  • Elite Eight: March 31-April 1
  • Final Four: Friday, April 5
  • NCAA championship game: Sunday, April 7 at 3 p.m. ET on ABC, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
About the Author

Cheryl Coward

Cheryl Coward started her career as a news reporter in Washington, DC. She's a die-hard women's basketball fan and founded the website Hoopfeed.com as a result of that passion. She loves writing about sports on all levels and has previous experience covering sports betting regulations, operator marketing campaigns and women's sports gambling topics.