If you saw the final score of Saturday evening’s Round of 32 matchup versus Michigan State with no context, this title wouldn’t seem reasonable. Surviving? It was a 16-point win!
Yes, it was. North Carolina dominated the game for the last ten minutes, outscoring the Spartans by 13 after leading by just five. But it wasn’t without a little bit of anxiousness. The Tar Heels trailed by 12 and looked all out of sorts early, but this surviving narrative, at least for myself, goes back to when the bracket came out last Sunday.
When I saw Mississippi State and Michigan State as the 8/9 headed to Charlotte, I sighed.