If you follow college basketball… at all… you know that North Carolina is playing Villanova Monday night for the national title in men’s basketball. If you don’t go to either of these schools, you may not have the same anxiety about the title game that every UNC and Villanova student currently has. For us Tar Heels, it is do or die. As I am experiencing this my freshman year, I am now going to tell you a few things that happen when your school makes it to the national championship.

1. Schoolwork begins to seem very, very distant.

Many professors push back assignments or even cancel class. Whether you got lucky with your professors or not, schoolwork definitely is not the first thing on your mind. Dartying and watching the game have become much higher on your list of priorities than that math test you have later this week.

2. Everyone is your friend.

Everyone on campus wants the same thing right now: to be the 2016 National Champions. And honestly, right now? That has the power to bring us all together.

3. You wonder if you are going to be able to sleep anytime soon.

You would think I was on the team myself, the way my nerves are getting to me. I practically think about it every waking moment, and I can’t waste any of my worrying time by sleeping.

4. You begin planning your days around the partying you know you will be doing.

Group project meeting at 3 p.m.? No, no, that’s not going to work for me. I have a darty starting at 2:30 p.m., so I won’t be able to make it. Gotta get hype for the game, even if it is still days away!

5. You don’t let yourself think about what’s going to happen after the game.

Good… or bad… we might jinx it if we start talking about it. So we can’t. We just can’t. As of right now, nothing in my life exists past Monday night, until we know the final score.

6. You start keeping a mental inventory of all the “lucky” or “unlucky” rituals you do.

If you’re a Panthers fan, I know you aren’t new to this. Thinking, “Dang I need to wear that sweater I wore the last time we won,” is only the beginning.

No matter what the score is, I’m a Tar Heel Born, a Tar Heel Bred, and when I die I’m a Tar Heel Dead. GO HEELS! #LockIn