So, North Carolina’s path to whatever it does over the next couple of weeks is set, and the Tar Heels have a huge task ahead if they plan on sticking around the big dance for a while.

Being wildly inconsistent for most of the season usually renders a tough road through the NCAA Tournament. But that’s not all bad, either.

Challenges are often revealing and serve as amazing lessons. And that’s what the Tar Heels should get out of their trip to Indiana later this week.

Whether or not they win a game or two or more remains to be seen, but looking at their bracket, as the No. 8 seed in the South Region, they can’t spend one minute thinking about a possible matchup with top seed Baylor in the second round because Wisconsin is a formidable foe in Friday’s first-round game.