Tar Heels Open ACC Title Drive Against Clemson

March 10, 2005

The University of North Carolina men's basketball team will open play in the 2005 ACC Tournament on Friday at noon against Clemson in the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. The game will be televised in the ACC region by Raycom/Jefferson-Pilot and nationally by ESPN2.

The Tar Heels are the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament and will play the No. 9-seeded Tigers in Friday's quarterfinals. This season, Carolina won its first outright regular season ACC championship since 1992-93.

Carolina (26-3, 14-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) is ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls for the third week in a row behind No. 1 Illinois.

The last time Carolina entered the ACC Tournament ranked as high as No. 2 was in 1992-93, when the No. 1 Tar Heels lost in the finals to Georgia Tech. UNC has won 12 of its last 13 games, including a 6-1 mark on the road in those 13 contests.

The Tar Heels swept the season series from Clemson.

TAR HEELS AS NO. 1 SEED IN THE ACC TOURNAMENT

This is the 19th time Carolina has been the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament and the first time since 2000-01.

UNC has gone 35-10 as the No. 1 seed, winning eight titles. The last time Carolina won the ACC Tournament as the No. 1 seed was in 1981-82

This is the 24th time Carolina has won at least a share of the ACC regular-season championship (and the first time since 2000-01).

This is the 15th time UNC has won the outright regular-season ACC championship, and the first time since 1992-93.

Roy Williams won or tied for nine Big 8/12 regular season championships as Kansas' head coach and seven in 10 years as an assistant coach at Carolina.

CAROLINA IN THE ACC TOURNAMENT

The Tar Heels are the winningest team in Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament history, winning the title a record 15 times.

UNC has played in the championship game 27 times in 51 years. Duke is second with 14 Tournament championships and 25 titlegame appearances.

Carolina won ACC Tournament championships in 1957, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1997 and 1998.

The Tar Heels have played in the ACC Tournament finals in nine of the last 14 years and 12 of the last 18 seasons. The current stretch of the last three years is the first time since 1960-66 the Tar Heels have missed the title game in at least three straight seasons.

Carolina has won more ACC Tournament games than any other school. The Tar Heels have an all-time record of 75-35 in Tournament play. Duke is second with 74 wins, followed by N.C. State (56), Maryland (40), Wake Forest (39), Virginia (28), Georgia Tech (17), Clemson (13) and Florida State (5).

15 ACC TITLES
Carolina has won 15 ACC Tournament championships, more than any other school. Duke is second with 14 titles and NC State is third with 10. Wake Forest has four titles, Georgia Tech and Maryland have three each, Virginia and South Carolina have one apiece. Florida State and Clemson have never won the ACC Tournament.

Dean Smith won a record 13 ACC Tournament titles. Frank McGuire (1957) and Bill Guthridge (1998) also led Carolina to ACC titles.

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