Strange: East Regional is truly the Tar Heels' world

Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess

North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough warms up during a day of practice and press conferences on Wednesday at Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A visitor to Bobcats Arena about 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon was treated to an unlikely sight.

The lower bowl of the arena was packed to near capacity. Every man, woman and child stared intently toward the entrance ramp in the corner, as did eight TV cameras.

Did I miss something? Was a game about to tip off?

Then the chant began: "Tar" and then "Heels" and, well, you get the picture.

Thousands of Tar Heel fans came out on a mid-week afternoon to watch North Carolina's basketball team fire up shots for 50 minutes.

When the team entered with a lap around the court, the crowd rose in standing ovation and cameras flashed as if the torch were being lit in an Olympic stadium.

This may officially be the East Regional of the NCAA tournament, but make no mistake about the real deal.

This is North Carolina's world. Tennessee, Louisville and Washington State are just dribbling through it.

UT and Louisville at least enjoy a neutral setting for their Sweet 16 match tonight. Washington State came 2,034 miles to face the nation's No. 1-ranked team and the tournament's overall No. 1 seed on what amounts to a home court.

Two weeks ago the Tar Heels were in this same building winning the ACC tournament. Last week, they were up the road in Raleigh, destroying first- and second-round NCAA opponents.

Now they're comfortably back in Charlotte, ostensibly to complete an all-Carolina path to the Final Four in San Antonio.

"This is their place,'' noted UT senior Jordan Howell. "It's definitely an advantage they have. I guess their history grants them that leeway.''

It's a terrific advantage. You could argue it's an unfair advantage, although no one went that far Wednesday (at least not on the record).

The notion of this advantage has been pitched before to the Carolina camp. Coach Roy Williams rolls his eyes.

"If my team plays well,'' said Williams, "we've got a chance to win in Siberia. If my team plays poorly, we've got a chance to get our butts beat in Chapel Hill, which we did twice this year.''

I'm guessing, though, he's glad his team is here tonight rather than Spokane, Lexington or Nashville.

The Tar Heels are 23-1 in NCAA tournament games played in the state of North Carolina. (The only loss, trivia buffs, was in 1979 to Penn in Raleigh.)

Tennessee has played only two NCAA tournament games in the Volunteer State (Murfreesboro, 1979). Washington State has never played one in its home state.

One of the appealing things about the NCAA tournament is that it's generally played in neutral settings. But you can't move all the games to Beirut. Somebody is going to be closer to home than somebody else.

More tournament rounds have been played in North Carolina than any other state. Hey, Tobacco Road supports its hoops, no one more so than the Tar Heel faithful.

North Carolina's program is so successful it hardly needs any geographical edges. Still, it gets them.

"I think it's a situation where they deserve it,'' said Washington State's Taylor Rochestie. "They're the No. 1 seed in the tournament and they've had a great season.''

I asked UT's Howell how he'd like for the Vols to play the first two rounds in Chattanooga, then the regional in Nashville.

"That would be a dream come true,'' Howell said. "We'd have a packed house.''

The house will be packed tonight - packed by Carolina blue. Each school got 1,250 tickets. Guess whose fans managed to gobble up most of the remainder long ago?

Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl won't be able to get as many of his "witnesses" in the building as he did in Birmingham last weekend. But as you'd expect, Pearl is undaunted.

"I think it can be an advantage (for UNC) because the crowd can inspire them in a very positive way,'' Pearl said.

"But I don't think the crowd is going to intimidate Washington State, Louisville or Tennessee at this point.''

He's probably right. Howell said the Vols get "geeked up" to face hostile crowds.

As Derrick Low, Washington State's star guard, pointed out, there's nothing to do but soak it all up.

"This is what March Madness is about,'' said Low. "We're going to have fun with it.''

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knoxnews.com.