GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Confederate battle flag is no longer flying at the State Capitol in Columbia, so for the first time in 15 years, banners welcoming the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament are hanging from light posts in this city in the foothills of the Appalachians.
Since 2002, the N.C.A.A. has kept its championships out of states flying the flag. When the South Carolina Legislature passed a bill in 2015 ending the flag’s display on the statehouse grounds, that restriction was lifted.
The timing proved fortuitous when, a year later, the N.C.A.A. imposed a similar championship ban on neighboring North Carolina because of a contentious law seen by its critics as anti-gay.