Fans feel madness of March as local teams advance to Sweet 16

March Madness is aptly named, according to basketball fans in Raleigh and Chapel Hill who watched their favorite hometown teams race to the Sweet 16 on Sunday.

Posted 1:41 a.m. Mar 19, 2012 — Updated 1:02 p.m. Mar 8, 2016

GREENSBORO, N.C. — March Madness is aptly named, according to basketball fans in Raleigh and Chapel Hill who watched their favorite hometown teams race to the Sweet 16 on Sunday.

"It's (called) madness because it's crazy out there," said Tar Heel fan Philip Carnes, who watched as North Carolina beat Creighton 87-73 in Greensboro to advance to the NCAA tournament's fourth round.

More than a thousand fans greeted the North Carolina State basketball team Sunday night as they returned to Raleigh from Columbus, Ohio. The Wolfpack beat Georgetown to make it the Sweet 16 for the first time in six years.

"I'm still like, oh my gosh, N.C. State made it here and Duke didn't get past the first round," said Pack fan Amie Thompson, who waited at the Dail Basketball Center on campus for the team to get home.

"Take that Coach K!" added Yanon Gray, a junior at N.C. State.

The Triangle is basketball country, said UNC fan John McDonald.

"It's a way of life. Ever since I was a little kid, we've watched basketball," McDonald said.

Both sets of fans are hoping their way of life leads them to the Final Four in New Orleans.

The teams play Friday in St. Louis – UNC faces Ohio at about 8 p.m. and N.C. State will play Kansas in the nightcap. Both games are on TBS. College basketball on TV

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