Expectations and reputations frame postseason awards. North Carolina head coach Roy Williams is the perfect example of this. He has won three national titles and nine regular season ACC titles in his 16 years at the UNC helm. Yet because of this success, and his Hall of Fame credentials, he's expected to have a great team every year, so the Tar Heels are highly ranked in every preseason poll and assumed to live up to that ranking. That's why he finished a distant third in this year's ACC Coach of the Year voting despite UNC winning 15 of its last 16 games to close out the conference season, finishing 16-2 atop the ACC, and is unlikely to earn the major national coaching awards.

But on Tuesday he was recognized by USA Today. The national media outlet named him its 2018-19 National Coach of the Year for his accomplishments this season. Here's what USA Today said about its decision to select Williams ...

The Tar Heels came on strong late in the season, winning 15 of their last 17 to finish as co-champions of the ACC and earn an NCAA tournament No. 1 seed. While this UNC team had veteran pieces (Cameron Johnson, Luke Maye and Kenny Williams) to drive its success, it was Williams' ability to mesh that experience with young talent (Coby White, Garrison Brooks and Nassir Little) that helped North Carolina peak now. As much hype as Duke got and as good as Virginia was, North Carolina was among the elite and it’s as a result of Williams’ coaching and winning culture.

Meanwhile, Williams is laser focused this week on the NCAA Tournament, in which UNC has a No. 1 seed and begins play on Friday night. Reflections on accomplishments, and acknowledging individual honors, will have to wait.

“It’s special to be a No. 1 seed," he said earlier this week. "The most special thing is to see the way our kids reacted when they saw our name as a No. 1 seed and they put North Carolina up there. I just love the way they were genuinely excited. They’re kids. We’ve enjoyed some good moments, and we’ve had some difficult ones like the one against Duke in the ACC Tournament or Virginia or Louisville. But at the same time, I love the excitement.

“When I decide to retire, which hopefully is a few years down the road, I’ll look back on 13 No. 1 seeds and feel good about it. But for now, I’ve got my team, we’re playing in the NCAA Tournament and people think we’ve had a pretty good year.”

After all, NCAA Tournament success is how teams are best remembered -- and it's where Roy Williams is at his best.

Williams is a No. 1 seed as a head coach for the 13th time, second-most in NCAA Tournament history, and it's the eighth time he's led UNC to a No. 1 seed. Williams is second in NCAA history in NCAA Tournament games (102) and wins (77), third in appearances (29) and fourth in Final Fours (9). And he is 28-0 in the NCAA first round (14-0 at UNC).