Photo by Tyler Schank/NCAA Photos via Getty Images Can the Tar Heels go on a run for a conference title this week? This week will feature the 2024 edition of the ACC Softball Tournament, which will feature the North Carolina Tar Heels and their first year coach Megan Smith Lyon. The 2024 season has been a fairly solid one following the coaching change, as the Tar Heels went 30-19 in the regular season, which is the program’s best record since 2019. As they look to make a run and potentially steal an NCAA Tournament bid this week, let’s give some shine to the softball team, which is hopefully at the start of a new successful era. Carolina features a very solid offense this year, which leads the ACC in batting average at .349. Alex Coleman has been one of the stars on that front, hitting .441, while also stealing 20 bases, which are both among the conference’s leaders. UNC are not the most powerful team out there, as they rank middle of the pack in both home runs and slugging percentage, but Isabela Emerling and Autumn Owen both swatted double digit homers, which places them both in the conference’s top 25 individual leaders. As far as pitching goes, Kenna Raye Dark has led the way, putting up a 2.83 ERA in a team-leading 104 innings. There’s also Nicki Harris, who has a 2.79 ERA, while also striking out 51 batters in just 52.2 innings. Should the Tar Heels come up short in the tournament, they still have a chance at an at-large bid, although it’ll probably be a close call. There aren’t a ton of softball bracketology resources out there, but of the ones that do exist, some have them in the field, and some do not. After going 10-14 in league play, Carolina will go into this week’s tournament as the #7 seed, which is behind held at Duke in Durham. While the ACC used the pool play format in baseball, the softball tournament is a traditional single-elimination bracket featuring 10 teams. UNC would need to win four games in four days in order to take home the title. In the opening round, the Tar Heels are set to take on the #10 seed Notre Dame. In the regular season, UNC took two of three in a series against the Irish in Chapel Hill. After that, things would immediately get extremely difficult should Carolina advance. With a win over Notre Dame, UNC would then be matched up against the #2 seed and a nationally ranked Florida State team. FSU has been a softball power in recent years, having won a national championship in 2018, and have advanced to five of the last nine Women’s College World Series. Should UNC slay that dragon, there would potentially be a familiar face further down the road. The #1 overall seed in the tournament is that team down the road, Duke. The Blue Devils have had a bit of a breakout season in just the seventh year that the program’s existed. Carolina will open up play in round one this afternoon at 3:30 pm ET. That, and every game through the semifinals, will be shown on ACC Network. Should UNC manage to make a run to the final, that game would be on ESPN2 on Sunday. College softball has exploded in popularity in recent years, and it would be great to see the Tar Heels become a regular contender in the sport sometime soon. Who knows, maybe it can start this week?

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Photo by Nicholas Faulkner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images NC lawmakers seek to force Carolina to play NC State every year, and even App State, ECU, and UNC-Charlotte A curious bill has hit the floor of the North Carolina State Assembly. House Bill 965, titled “UNC Intrastate Athletic Competition” would require Carolina to play NC State in football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball at least once per season. Additionally, both UNC and NC State would be required to play one of East Carolina, App State, or UNC-Charlotte in said sports every season, and would have to play them home and away every six years. This would essentially force the Tar Heels to play one of these schools every season, and increase the number of true road non-conference games they schedule. There’s several layers of subtext here. The first is that this bill seems to be a hedge in case UNC and NC State end up in different conferences should the ACC implode. As a free agent, UNC would become a hot commodity between the B1G and SEC, while NC State seeks refuge in Conference-USA or something like that. North Carolina lawmakers don’t want the Tar Heel vs Wolfpack rivalry to disappear like Texas vs A&M did when the Aggies bolted for the SEC. Additionally, North Carolina lawmakers want sports tourism dollars to remain in North Carolina, preferring Tar Heels and Wolfpack alike to spend their hotel money in Boone and Greenville, rather than Berkley and Palo Alto. Lost in all of this hullabaloo is the preferences of UNC and NC State. These two schools already play their in-state rivals more than they probably care to, especially given how dangerous ECU and App State can be. While it may be kind and gracious to play their neighbors (especially away!), it can present a no-win situation. If UNC beats App State, it’s half-expected and doesn’t give the team a bump. If Carolina loses to the Mountaineers, they’ll be mocked from pillar to post. If Mack Brown, Hubert Davis, or Courtney Banghart wants to take the risk, so be it, but why have the state government legislate an important part of the non-conference schedule? The coaches know how strong their teams will be, and they’ll make the best choices for UNC’s non-conference schedule. Does that mean ECU gets the nod versus a cupcake? Who knows? But I don’t see how that’s for the NC State Assembly to decide? What do you think? Should UNC be required to play North Carolina public schools every year? Let us know in the comments.