North Carolina
North Carolina decision on coach Hubert Davis’ future is reportedly coming next week
North Carolina is picking up the pieces after a heartbreaking March Madness loss to VCU. The Tar Heels blew a 19-point lead, allowing the sixth-largest comeback in NCAA tournament history, including the largest the first round has ever seen.
They’ve now bowed out of the tournament’s Round of 64 in back-to-back years, and questions are swirling about the job security of head coach Hubert Davis.
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Those won’t be answered until early next week, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
“The future of Hubert Davis at North Carolina right now is squarely in flux in the wake of these back-to-back, first-round NCAA tournament exits,” Thamel reported on Saturday. “The sides are expected to talk in the upcoming days, and no decision on Davis’ future is expected until early next week.
“Do not expect Davis to be fired outright. Any kind of departure would be synchronized, likely between he and the school. Hubert Davis is a legend at North Carolina and will be treated with that type of respect.”
Thamel added: “The options here are simple: Keep Davis with significant changes to the staff and program or orchestrate some type of wholesale change to the coaching staff and bring in a whole new regime.”
In other words, even if Davis stays, staff changes are expected.
Outgoing UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham, who will be replaced by Steve Newmark when Cunningham steps down from his role this summer, reportedly told Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman that he and other administrators are in the process of evaluating the men’s basketball program.
“Every year at the end of the season, it’s important to evaluate all facets of the program and look for ways to improve,” Cunningham said, per Goodman. “The Chancellor, Steve and I are doing that together now and will continue to have discussions over the coming days.”
UNC has historically hired within Tar Heels family
Davis has led the UNC program since April 2021, when he took over for Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams, who guided the Tar Heels to three national championships and five Final Fours over an 18-season tenure.
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In hiring Davis as Williams’ replacement, the school stayed within the Carolina basketball family. Davis played under program legend Dean Smith, another Hall of Fame coach, at UNC from 1988-92 and worked under Williams as an assistant coach from 2012-21.
Davis took the baton and ran with it initially, especially down the stretch of his first season at the helm. The Tar Heels took down rival Duke twice: first in the regular-season finale, spoiling the final home game for retiring Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, and then again in the Final Four.
Although UNC fell to Kansas in the national title game, its journey back to that stage inspired confidence in Davis.
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Tournament struggles under Davis
Since, however, the Tar Heels have won just two NCAA tournament games, and both of those victories came in 2024, when they were a No. 1 seed after winning the ACC regular-season crown. That year, they lost in the Sweet 16 to Alabama.
Following UNC’s national runner-up finish in 2022, it began the 2022-23 season as the No. 1 team in the AP preseason poll but went on to miss out on the NCAA tournament entirely.
This season, the Tar Heels beat Duke in the first of the teams’ two meetings. But their leading scorer and rebounder, top NBA Draft prospect Caleb Wilson, eventually suffered two injuries, the second of which was a thumb injury that the freshman forward picked up in practice and that required season-ending surgery.
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UNC missed Wilson sorely when VCU was mounting its first-round comeback on Thursday. And now Davis’ future, as Thamel reported, is “squarely in flux.”
North Carolina
March Madness 2026: How to watch the North Carolina vs. Maryland game in the second round of the women’s NCAA basketball tournament
March Madness continues today with the second round of the women’s NCAA tournament. Up next: No. 4 North Carolina vs. No. 5 Maryland. The game tips off at 12 p.m. ET today, airing on ESPN. For a complete breakdown of key dates and how to watch every March Madness game, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a look at how to watch the entire tournament from today’s second round to the Championship Final.
How to watch North Carolina vs. Maryland at the women’s March Madness tournament:
Date: Sunday, March 22, 2026
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Time: 12 p.m. ET
TV channel: ESPN
Streaming: ESPN Unlimited, Fubo, DirecTV and more
North Carolina vs. Maryland game time:
The North Carolina vs. Maryland second-round basketball game is on Sunday, March 22. Tipoff is at 12 p.m. ET.
Where to watch the North Carolina vs. Maryland game:
The North Carolina vs. Maryland March Madness game will air on ESPN.
Where to stream March Madness games without cable:
Every game of the 2026 women’s March Madness Tournament will stream on ESPN Unlimited. You’ll also be able to access every game on live TV services like Sling, Fubo, and DirecTV.
ESPN’s streaming platform offers thousands of exclusive live events, original studio shows and acclaimed series that air across ESPN’s suite of seven linear channels, as well as exclusive content on ESPN+, ABC on ESPN, SEC+, ACCNX and more. The new tier costs $29.99/month or $299.99/year.
ESPN Select allows subscribers to access exclusive content only available on the app, and an extensive archive of on-demand content (including the entire 30 For 30 library, select ESPN Films, game replays and more). Whether you purchase a standalone plan, add-on or Disney bundle plan, the service provides access to thousands of sports events for $12.99/month or $129.99/year.
Sling TV’s Day Pass gives consumers the freedom to watch what they want, when they want, without committing to a monthly streaming subscription. Sign up for a single day ($4.99), a weekend ($9.99), or a full week ($14.99) and watch every channel available through Sling Orange, which includes ESPN and ESPN2, and over 30 more channels. No strings attached.
Want to catch a specific sporting event like the women’s March Madness tournament that’s spread across additional channels that Sling Orange doesn’t typically carry? You can customize your channel lineup with a Sports Extra add-on to get additional coverage of ESPNU and more for just a dollar more.
2026 NCAA women’s basketball tournament game schedule
All times Eastern.
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Second round:
Sunday, March 22
No. 4 North Carolina vs. No. 5 Maryland: 12 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 7 NC State: 1 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 4 Minnesota vs. No. 5 Ole Miss: 2 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 2 LSU vs. No. 7 Texas Tech: 3 p.m. (ABC)
No. 3 Duke vs. No. 6 Baylor: 4 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 1 Texas vs. No. 8 Oregon: 6 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 5 Michigan State vs. No. 4 Oklahoma: 8 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 3 TCU vs. No. 6 Washington: 10 p.m. (ESPN)
2026 NCAA women’s basketball tournament schedule:
The schedule and locations for the women’s tournament:
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Selection Sunday: 8 p.m. ET Sunday, March 15 on ESPN
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Second round: March 22-23
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Sweet 16: March 27-28 in Fort Worth, TX and Sacramento, CA
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Elite Eight: March 29-30 in Fort Worth, TX and Sacramento, CA
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Final Four: Friday, April 3, Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, AZ
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NCAA championship game: Sunday, April 5, Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, AZ
North Carolina
North Carolina vs. Western Illinois – First round NCAA tournament extended highlights
Women’s Basketball
March 20, 2026
North Carolina vs. Western Illinois – First round NCAA tournament extended highlights
March 20, 2026
Watch the highlights from No. 4 North Carolina and No. 13 Western Illinois’ matchup in the first round of the 2026 women’s NCAA tournament.
North Carolina
Spruce Pine equestrian estate sells for record $4.1 million
An expansive equestrian estate in Spruce Pine has sold for $4.1 million, the highest residential sale on record in Mitchell County, according to Premier Sotheby’s International Realty.
Located on 68 acres west of downtown Spruce Pine, 1987 Rabbit Hop Road sold March 16, taking the equestrian compound off the market. The property had been listed for sale in mid-2025 for over $4.2 million, according to Zillow.
Developed as an equestrian compound, the estate features a main residence, a six-stall heated barn with a tack room and studio apartment, an indoor riding arena, an outdoor riding track and an RV and horse trailer storage area. The main residence features three bedrooms, 3,000 square-feet of living space and vaulted wood ceilings.
The property is located at elevations between 2,500 and 3,000 feet, according to Premier Sotheby’s International Realty. Properties of the size and scale of the estate are “extremely limited,” Premier Sotheby global real estate advisors Leslie Young and Cheryl Cenderelli said in a March 19 news release.
Western North Carolina’s luxury real estate market has remained relatively strong in recent years, as more luxury homes list across the region. In Buncombe County, not including the city of Asheville, 99 homes were listed above $1.5 million at the end 2025, according to Mosaic Community Lifestyle Realty’s 4th quarter of 2025 market report. It represented an estimated 11.5 months of inventory.
The most expensive home in Buncombe County is Deerhaven Gardens, which is currently listed for $15.9 million on Zillow, down from its $34 million listing in 2023. With a 5% down payment and a 30-year loan term at 6.22% fixed-rate mortgage, one would pay $104,881 a month to rent the property, according to Rocket Mortgage’s loan calculator.
Will Hofmann is the growth and development reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com or message will_hofmann.01 on Signal.
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