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North Carolina Tar Heels: CBS Sports David Cobb Puts Them on Upset Alert Against the VCU Rams

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Glenn Kaplan | Last updated Mar 17, 2026 12:54 PM ET

The North Carolina Tar Heels are the sixth seed in the South Region. North Carolina will be facing 11th seeded VCU Rams on Thursday. The Tar Heels will not have Caleb Wilson for the NCAA Tournament because of injury.

He last played on February 10 against the Miami Hurricanes. They have won games without him this season, but it will be hard for them to make a run deep into March without him. The Tar Heels might have been seeded higher if he was available to play.

North Carolina has a 24-8 record this season and VCU has a 27-7 record. The Tar Heels finished fourth in the ACC Standings. The Rams finished second in the A10 Standings, and they won the A10 Tournament Championship. Is there a chance that the Tar Heels will potentially go down in the first round?

David Cobb of CBS Sports Has the North Carolina Tar Heel on Upset Alert Against the VCU Rams

North Carolina Tar Heels guard Seth Trimble rises to shoot over Duke Blue Devils guard Caleb Foster at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 7, 2026.Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

David Cobb of CBS Sports previewed the South Region for the upcoming NCAA Tournament. He wrote about who could potentially be the one team in this region that could have a Cinderella run. Cobb thinks that VCU could go on a Cinderella run in the South Region.

Cobb said, "VCU has won 16 of its past 17 games under first-year coach Phil Martelli Jr. as it enters a first-round tilt with a vulnerable North Carolina team. The Rams shoot it great from beyond the arc but can still find ways to win even when 3-pointers aren't going down. Martelli is the fifth VCU coach in a 12-year span to lead the Rams to the Big Dance. This program is here on a regular basis, but it hasn't made a deep run since Shaka Smart led it to the the 2011 Final Four. This is a deep squad that proved its capability with double-digit wins over teams like South Florida and Virginia Tech before going 15-3 in Atlantic 10 play."

North Carolina is more prone to losing in the first round with not having Wilson healthy. The Tar Heels lost in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament against the Clemson Tigers. They don't have the same upside without him. The Rams are one of the hottest teams in the country.

If VCU were to win, they would either face #14 seed Penn Quakers or #3 seed Illinois Fighting Illini in the Round of 32. The Rams would have a lot of momentum riding into that one. The Rams are no strangers to March Madness. VCU no doubt has become a very trendy pick in the Round of 64 against North Carolina.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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