Whether North Carolina goes to the Final Four or doesn’t make it out of the weekend, whether redemption is on the cards or disappointment lurks around the corner, even if this game ends up a forgotten waypoint on the road somewhere else, it will always be remembered for one thing, one player.
Many a tune has been improvised in the neon-lit honky-tonks that line Beale Street, only a block away, but never one as improbable as the Ballad of Luke Maye.
North Carolina is moving on to face either Kentucky or UCLA in a regional final that could very well be the most anticipated game of the tournament so far, and not because of Justin Jackson or Joel Berry, although they did their part, and not because Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks pressed the Tar Heels’ advantage inside against Butler.