NCAA Tournament Preview: No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 6 Notre Dame

After losing to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 80-76 in the regular season, the North Carolina Tar Heels demolished the Fighting Irish in the ACC tournament, 78-47. Now, the two ACC teams must compete with much more on the line, as UNC and Notre Dame battle it out in the Elite Eight for a coveted trip to the Final Four.

Since the start of the 2016 NCAA tournament, no team has looked close to defeating North Carolina. In their three tournament games so far, UNC has won by a combined 50 points and have held two teams to just 67 and 66 points. Heading back to the regular season, the Tar Heels have won eight straight games and might be the hottest team in the country.

That being said, Notre Dame has beaten this same North Carolina team before. Despite an up and down season, Notre Dame has caught fire in the NCAA tournament, fighting hard to win games against tough opponents. The advantage of this team scrapping for close wins since their opening game, could be absolutely massive against a team like North Carolina who has yet to be challenged.

For the Fighting Irish, this game will come down to Notre Dame avoiding turnovers and bad shots. For North Carolina, players have to step forward and make big shots like Marcus Paige did against the Indiana Hoosiers.

Although I doubt Notre Dame can stop this UNC team that looks to be headed towards a national championship, the Fighting Irish have shown that they can do it before.