GREENSBORO – Did the waiting game on its NCAA fate really begin for North Carolina following its 68-59 loss to Virginia on Thursday night at the ACC Tournament?
Maybe so, but optimism was low for the Tar Heels when asked to make their cases to the NCAA selection committee. There was an inevitability among the players, and even head coach Hubert Davis in his postgame press conference.
At 20-13, ranked No. 47 in the NET, owning a 1-9 record in Quad 1 games, and losers of six of their last nine games, a Tar Heels’ pitch likely would fall on deaf ears.
“I can only pray at this point,” veteran wing Leaky Black said, when asked to make UNC’s case.
It wasn’t a popular subject inside Carolina’s locker room, neither were questions about accepting an NIT bid.
This is a team that embraced the stated mission of “Championship or bust” last summer and fall, and now they are on the brink of becoming the first preseason No. 1 team since the NCAA field expanded to 64 in 1985 to not make the tournament. Every previous preseason No. 1 team made the tournament, and all but Kansas in 2005 won at least one game.
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So, the Tar Heels’ ever-positive coach was asked to state why his team belongs in the field. Clearly searching, Davis eventually answered the question.
“Our record is our record, and I know that – I think regardless of our record, I think we have shown throughout the entire year that we can compete and play and beat anybody in the country,” Davis said. “But I know that we played a really tough non-conference schedule. I know that the ACC, for whatever reason, is undervalued as one of the elite, if not the elite, conferences in college basketball.
“And (I’m) still trying to understand – I understand the Quad – it could be a Quad 1 win in November, but in March it's not. But at the end of the day, we had chances. For eight or nine of the 13 losses that we had, we were up in the second half. So, we had our chances.”
The reality: UNC’s nonconference schedule includes just four teams that will play in the NCAA Tournament, with College of Charleston the only club Carolina defeated. Overall, UNC has only four wins over teams that will be in the field.
In addition to CofC, that is Clemson, NC State, and Virginia. Virginia is the highest rated team UNC has defeated, carrying an NET ranking of 28 today. NC State is No. 45, Charleston No. 50, Clemson No. 51, Ohio State No. 56, Michigan No. 58, and Wake Forest No. 90.
Just seven victories over teams ranked in the top 100 of the NET. That isn’t likely an NCAA resume.
“You can nit-pick about a lot of things,” Black said. “But at the end of the day we just didn’t make the plays. It is what it is. We just didn’t win the games we needed to win.”
Come Sunday evening, the expectation is Black’s statement is spot on.
