Last night, the North Carolina basketball team defeated the Oregon Ducks to punch their ticket to a second straight National Championship game. The Tar Heels will face Gonzaga on Monday April 2.
The North Carolina basketball team is hoping to redeem themselves for their last second loss to Villanova in last years National Championship bout. Should the Tar Heels come out victorious, their story would be eerily similar to the Clemson football team’s 2016 season.
The Clemson Tigers accomplished one of the toughest feats in sports when they defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2016 National Championship game. Winning the National Championship is difficult in itself, however, Clemson’s journey was especially peculiar.
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The Tigers fell shot against Alabama in the 2015 National Championship the year before. Making it to two straight National title games is rare, which only increased the enormous amount of pressure going into Clemson’s rematch with Alabama. Luckily the Tigers were able to remain focused on the task at hand and walked away with a victory.
The Tar Heels have the luxury of not having to face Villanova again, but, the pressure is on nonetheless. The similarities between North Carolina and Clemson do not stop there.
Recruiting
Both the Clemson football program and the North Carolina basketball program recruit at their own pace. Dabo Swinney and his staff recruit based on their own evaluation of prospects rather than the amount of stars that they have on recruiting sites.
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Roy Williams and his staff are much the same on the recruiting trail. Williams has taken flak for his relatively low ranked recruiting classes at North Carolina, however, the prospects that he does bring in produce at a high level.
The underrated players that Clemson and North Carolina bring into their programs play a pivotal role in their success. For instance, Clemson walk-on wide out, Hunter Renfrow scored the game winning touchdown in the 2016 National Championship vs Alabama.
North Carolina’s Luke Maye, a three-star recruit coming out of high school, scored the game winning basket vs Kentucky in the elite eight.
Should North Carolina basketball win tomorrow night vs Gonzaga not only would they be redeeming their loss, but, they would also put the Carolinas at the top of the hill in the world of collegiate sports.
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