The Tar Heels lost to No. 1 Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals, but have won eight of their past 10 games and are playing their best basketball of the season.

The reigning champion South Carolina Gamecocks will try to get to their fifth straight Final Four in the opening matchup in Birmingham against the Duke Blue Devils. The UCLA Bruins, the other top seed in action on Sunday, are after their first-ever Women's Final Four appearance.

It's been 17 years since this scenario played out in March Madness, following wins by Duke, Auburn, Houston and Florida.

The last at-large team in the NCAA field, UNC couldn’t replicate its wire-to-wire spirited play from its First-Four win. The 11th-seeded Tar Heels fell behind early to No. 6 Ole Miss and never fully recovered.

What should be clear is that what some assumed before — some coaches only won because they broke the rules — wasn’t true.

Dramatic, last-second losses by 10-seed Arkansas and 6-seed Ole Miss were the closest we got to having “surprise” entries into the Elite Eight. In fact, 3-seed Texas Tech – which needed a 16-point second-half comeback to get past the Razorbacks – is somehow the only team seeded No. 3 or lower still in the field.

The No. 2 seed UConn Huskies (34-3) and the No. 1 seed USC Trojans (31-3) will meet on Monday in the Women's NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.

SportsLine's top college basketball experts reveal their 2025 NCAA Tournament Final Four score predictions, national semifinal picks for Houston vs. Duke and Auburn vs. Florida