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NCAA Tournament Begins With Duke in D.C.

By Dane Huffman

Mar 20, 2008

If you’ve picked your bracket, found your national champion and loaded up the kitchen with food and drink, then you’re ready for the NCAA Tournament.

And Thursday, the tournament began in force as Georgia faces Xavier at 12:10 p.m. on WRAL.

Duke, the second seed in the West Regional, tipped off against Belmont in Washington, D.C. at 7:10 p.m. Thursday.

North Carolina, the top seed in the East, faces Mount St. Mary’s Friday at 7:10 p.m. in Raleigh. Late Wednesday, some tickets were still available for that contest at the RBC Center.

Carolina is the top seed overall in the tournament and a strong contender to reach the Final Four in San Antonio. Two wins in Raleigh would land the Tar Heels in Charlotte, where they just won the ACC Tournament before a largely light-blue crowd.

“We’re gifted, there’s no denying that fact," UNC coach Roy Williams said Monday on his radio show. "We are gifted. I’ve had some teams that are more gifted than this bunch, but this bunch is pretty doggone tough, and they have the big rascal [Tyler Hansbrough]. When your best player is the toughest guy, the hardest worker, the leader and he doesn’t say ‘boo,’ he just plays, I tell you what..."

Duke needs two wins in Washington to reach the West Regional in Phoenix. The Blue Devils are usually one of the toughest teams to beat in NCAA play, but Virginia Commonwealth University knocked out Duke last year in the first round.

Carolina and Duke are national title contenders, but only two other ACC teams, Clemson and Miami, reached the 65-team NCAA field.

WRAL and Time Warner Cable will have every game in the tournament on the air. And WRAL.com will have complete coverage as the days unfold.