North Carolina has been a No. 1 seed more than any other program in NCAA Tournament history, doing so 18 times. It’s happened nine times this century, and each of those Tar Heel squads had something in common: Dogs!

Fanny smackers, screw-you guys, and great talent are all common denominators for teams that earn top regional seeds in the big dance. But having literal dogs on the court is, too.

That was missing this season in a major way with the Heels, and it hasn’t been part of the mix in needed form for a while aside from a year ago when Cormac Ryan and Harrison Ingram played that role, also elevating Armando Bacot’s and RJ Davis’ dog status.