North Carolina has won the NCAA Tournament six times in its fabled history, but it was close to winning several more.

In fact, some of the best teams in program history didn’t even reach the title game, and in some cases didn’t even make the Final Four. Injuries affected a few of those teams, and the nature of the one-and-done NCAA Tournament caught some others as well.

So, in a fun exercise that is entirely subjective, we present a six-part series noting the six best UNC basketball teams to NOT win a national championship. Today, the 2012 Tar Heels:

2012 (32-6, 14-2 ACC)

*Lost to Kansas in Elite 8

All-Americans: Tyler Zeller; Harrison Barnes; Kendall Marshall.

All-ACC: Tyler Zeller (1st); John Henson (1st); Harrison Barnes (1st); Kendall Marshall (2nd).

Honors: Tyler Zeller: ACC Player of the Year.

What' Happened?: The 1984 season beckons the question, what would have been had Kenny Smith not broken his wrist on a hard, perhaps even dirty play? What about 1977 had the Tar Heels not been so riddled with injuries, yet still made it to the national title game? The 2012 question asks a similar question: What would have been had Kendall Marshall not broken his wrist on a hard, perhaps dirty play in the second round of the NCAA Tournament?

Nobody knows the answer, but it was apparent that Carolina and eventual NCAA champion Kentucky were on a collision course to meet for the national title. UK had beaten the Tar Heels in December at Rupp Arena when John Henson had a shot blocked as time expired. UNC was every bit as good as UK and was more experienced. It was a good bet if you took the Heels entering the tournament.

But that team never got a chance to materialize at the sport's most important time, plus two nagging injuries to Henson hurt the Heels even more. They reached the Elite 8 where new nemesis Kansas waited, but it wasn't meant to be, and the 2012 Heels reside here instead of 10-12 slots higher.

They were worthy of top-10 status most of the time. Tyler Zeller was the ACC Player of the Year for a reason. Marshall won the Cousy Award, Harrison Barnes was playing much like the player people expected when he arrived, and Henson had developed into an obvious pro and remains in the league today. Rounding out the starting lineup was eventual NBA'er Reggie Bullock in place of injured senior Dexter Strickland.

Usually high octane, there were a couple of head scratchers that also help settle these Heels in this slot. A disturbing 33-point loss at Florida State, for starters, with a 10-point loss while allowing 90 points to UNLV being another. But mostly, this was an excellent, veteran team that deserved a better fate, one that could have concluded with them cutting down the nets.

2012 NBA Draft

Harrison Barnes, 1st Round, No. 7 overall selection

Kendall Marshall, 1st Round, No. 13 overall selection

John Henson, 1st Round, No. 14 overall selection

Tyler Zeller, 1st Round, No. 17 overall selection