North Carolina Tar Heels guard Caleb Love Jaylynn Nash-USA TODAY Sports

North Carolina basketball in danger of making wrong kind of history

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 2/20/23

The North Carolina Tar Heels season is not going as anybody expected, and they could make some infamous history that nobody wants to make — or expected them to make.

It has been so disappointing that the phrase "March Madness" might begin to take on an entirely different meaning in Chapel Hill.

Thanks to Sunday's 77-69 loss to in-state rival North Carolina State, the Tar Heels fell to 16-11 on the season and 8-8 in ACC conference play. Even more concerning, they are now 0-9 in Quad 1 games.

Quad 1 games are defined as "home games vs. RPI teams ranked in the top 30; neutral games vs. 1-50; away games vs. 1-75."

North Carolina has played nine such games this season and lost every single one of them.

That is bad news and puts their NCAA tournament hopes in doubt. And that would be an unprecedented failure given where the Tar Heels started the season. North Carolina opened the season as the No. 1 team in the country, and as college basketball analyst Jeff Goodman points out, no preseason No. 1 team has ever — ever — failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament.

North Carolina loses at NC State and the Tar Heels are now 0-9 in Quad 1 contests.

UNC is serious danger of becoming first-ever Preseason No. 1 not to make the NCAA tourney (since tourney expanded).
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 19, 2023

We are still a long way from that happening, but it is also getting pretty late in the season to expect North Carolina to suddenly turn things around. At some point, you have to start believing this is what this team actually is. And that is bitterly disappointing for UNC fans.

North Carolina is one of the nation's top basketball programs and obviously had sky-high expectations entering this season, especially after losing the National Championship game just one year ago.

There is still a chance that North Carolina could finish strong, or have a strong showing in the ACC Tournament and earn its ticket to the dance. But with the way things are going against the top teams on its schedule Tar Heels fans better prepare themselves for the NIT. If they are lucky.

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