The men's basketball team of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is referred to as the North Carolina Tar Heels, and they play in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Tar Heels have played their games at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina since 1986.
As of the 2009–10 season, North Carolina had the second most wins and the second highest winning percentage of any NCAA Division I men's team with a record of 2,004 wins and 720 losses over 100 seasons. The Tar Heels also have the most consecutive 20-win seasons, with 31 seasons from the 1970–71 season through 2000–01 season. The Tar Heels have won the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament six times, have appeared in the tournament finals eleven times, a record 21 NCAA Final Fours, have made it into the NCAA tournament 47 times (tied for second-most all-time), and hold the record for all-time NCAA tournament victories (102). Additionally, the team has been the number one seed in the NCAA tournament 13 times, which is the most #1 seeds of all-time, and has been ranked in the top 25 AP Poll 703 times (1st all-time), has beaten #1 teams a record 12 times, has the most consecutive 20-win seasons, with 31, North Carolina has also won the National Invitation Tournament, appeared in two NIT Semifinals, and has made five appearances in the NIT Tournament. North Carolina has had a top twenty-five final ranking among Division I schools 42 times as ranked by the Associated Press and 44 times as ranked by the Coaches Poll. In five instances the Tar Heels have ended the season with a number one ranking in the Associated Press, and the Tar Heels have also been ranked number one five times at the end of the season by the Coaches' Poll.
The Tar Heels played their first basketball game against Virginia Christian, on January 27, 1910, a 42–21 win for North Carolina. In 1921 North Carolina joined the Southern Conference. In the Southern Conference, the Tar Heels quickly found success. The 1923–24 Tar Heels squad went 26-0 and was retroactively awarded the national championship by the Helms Athletic Foundation in 1936. Overall, the Tar Heels played 32 seasons in the Southern Conference from 1921 to 1953. During that period they won 304 games and lost 111 for a winning percentage of 73.3%. The Tar Heels were winners of the regular season for nine times and won the Southern Conference championships 8 times.
In 1953, North Carolina split off from the Southern Conference and became a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Again, the Tar Heels quickly found success in their new conference. The Tar Heels won their first NCAA Championship under coach Frank McGuire in 1957, which was led by Lennie Rosenbluth and several other transplants from the New York City area. McGuire was forced to resign in 1961 after an NCAA violation regarding "improper recruiting entertainment" and was replaced by one of his assistants, Dean Smith.
Smith coached the Tar Heels from 1961 to 1997 and brought an unprecedented level of success to the team. When Smith retired in 1997, he had the most wins ever of any NCAA Division I men's basketball coach with 879 wins, and the 9th highest winning percentage with 77.6% wins. During Smith's time as head coach, North Carolina won the ACC regular season championship 17 times, won the ACC tournament 13 times, won the NIT in 1971, went to the NCAA tournament 27 times, appeared in 11 final fours, and won two NCAA national tournament titles, in 1982 and 1993. The 1982 National Championship team was led by James Worthy, Sam Perkins, and a young Michael Jordan. The 1993 National Championship team starred Donald Williams, George Lynch and Eric Montross. While at North Carolina, Smith helped promote desegregation by recruiting the university's first African American scholarship basketball player Charlie Scott.
Smith retired in 1997 and the head coaching position went to his assistant Bill Guthridge. In his three seasons as head coach Guthridge led the Tar Heels to the NCAA final Four twice, in the 1998 tournament and again in the 2000 tournament.