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Call it the anticipation before the celebration. At least, that’s what the Tar Heel faithful hope it will be.

From Murphy to Manteo and from Denver to Durham, North Carolina fans spent Sunday looking forward to tonight’s NCAA men’s basketball championship game against Michigan State.

Those who didn’t get tickets to the Final Four in Detroit have figured out by now where they will be and what they’ll be doing when the game tips off at 9:21 p.m.

They’ll be somewhere in front of a TV, making the game one of the most-watched sporting events ever in the Triad.

"For us, it will be right after the Super Bowl," said Deborah Hooper, president and general manager of WFMY-TV, which will show the game. " ... Carolina’s in it."

Hooper estimates that more than a half-million people could see the game locally.

Viewers will gather in homes, hotels, hospital rooms, fire stations, retirement centers, church fellowship halls, dorm rooms, and bars and restaurants.

"They will come in here in Tar Heel hats and Tar Heel shirts," said Charlton Smith, manager of the Ham’s Restaurant on High Point Road, which sports 16 televisions. "They’ll get amped up and ready for it. They’ll get a couple of drinks in them and start hooting and hollering. It’s almost like they’re the coach of the team."

Things will be much less raucous at Brian Kincaid’s home in Jamestown.

Kincaid and his wife, Jennifer, and their children, Anna and Owen, have invited his parents, Jimmy and Judy Kincaid of Greensboro, over for a birthday party. Jimmy Kincaid turns 75 on Tuesday.

"We all like Carolina," Brian Kincaid said. "We’ll have a little party for them. We’ll let the kids stay up a little later than normal (to watch the game.)"

But time out. What about all those anti-Carolina fans out there?

"There are a lot of people on my staff who hate Carolina," Smith said. "They’ll be pulling against them, I’m sure."

And what about the area’s Michigan State fans?

"I’ll be in front of (a TV) somewhere," said Rick Milligan, of Greensboro, who graduated from Michigan State in 1983. "My friends and I are debating where we are going."

But Milligan is certain of one thing — wherever he winds up, he’ll be listening to the Spartan fight song.

"It will be played often and loudly," Milligan said. "Every good MSU alumni has it on CD somewhere."

But the loudest spot in the state tonight will be Chapel Hill — win or lose.

The university will host a Final Four viewing party at the Smith Center. Fans can watch the game on a large projection screen and the arena’s video boards.

Students, faculty and staff with university ID’s will be admitted at 8 p.m. and everyone else at 8:30 p.m.

For those looking for more intimate settings, the bars and restaurants on Franklin Street will be brimming with fans.

At Top of The Hill Restaurant and Brewery, fans will begin arriving by mid-afternoon and they’ll be thirsty.

"Our brewers have been hard at work," said Rebecca Workman, the manager. "We’re stocking up on everything."

The Chapel Hill police have been stocking up as well. They’ve requested additional manpower from area law enforcement agencies to help control the crowds that will spill onto Franklin Street after the game.

"We don’t know what to expect," said Lt. Leo Vereen, who said the crowd could reach 20,000. "If they win, people will drive from out of town. People will come from Greensboro just to come to Franklin Street. But we don’t encourage that. I don’t want all of Guilford County headed here."

But what if the Tar Heels fail in their quest for another national championship?

"Then people will drink out of sorrow instead of happiness," Workman said, trying to look on the bright side. "It’s springtime in Chapel Hill. It’s a great town to be in and it’s a great time to be in it."

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com