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For a long period under Dean Smith, North Carolina didn’t really have down seasons. The Tar Heels went 23 consecutive years at one point without losing double-figure number of games.

And the few times his clubs lost 10 or more contests, they quickly rebounded with spectacular seasons. That was usually the case with Roy Williams’ Carolina clubs, too.

So, now that UNC is coming off a 20-13 campaign in which the Tar Heels did not play in the NCAA Tournament, should fans expect a quick turnaround for the upcoming campaign? History suggests that usually occurs.

Hubert Davis has a refurbished roster, but this still applies, so let’s take a look:

We begin by going back four-plus decades to the 1980 season, when UNC wasn’t as sharp as had become the norm in the 1970s. In fact, not only did Carolina win just 21 games while losing eight (9-5 ACC), but the Tar Heels failed to win an NCAA Tournament game for the third consecutive season.

After reaching the national championship game in 1977, UNC got NCAA byes each of the next three seasons automatically moving it to the second round, where the Heels promptly lost to San Francisco, Penn, and Texas A&M, respectively. The latter took place in Denton, TX, and was by 17 points in double-overtime.

The 1980-81 squad included a sophomore forward named James Worthy, a freshman wing named Matt Doherty, and a freshman center named Sam Perkins to go with senior sharpshooter Al Wood, who was the fourth overall player taken in the 1981 NBA Draft.

The Tar Heels finished 29-8 overall, 10-4 in the ACC, and reached the national championship game before losing to Indiana.

The first UNC team to lose at least ten games in a season in 23 years was the 1990 squad that finished 21-13 overall and 8-6 in the ACC. It did reach the Sweet 16, however, after knocking off NCAA Tournament top-seed Oklahoma in the second round.

The following season, the senior campaigns for Pete Chilcutt, King Rice, and Rick Fox (and junior season for Hubert Davis), saw the Tar Heels return to normal going 29-6 overall and 10-4 in the ACC, plus they reached the Final Four before falling to Kansas and its third-year coach Roy Williams.

A Smith-coached team lost double-digit number of games in 1990 for the first time in 23 years, and did it again two seasons later, as the 1992 Tar Heels went 23-10 overall and 9-7 in the ACC. They reached the Sweet 16 as well in Hubert Davis’ senior campaign.

A year later, and after Duke had won consecutive national titles, Smith put a photo of the Superdome in New Orleans in each players’ locker at the beginning of the season. That was the sight of the Final Four that year, and the mission clearly was to win it all and regain their perch atop college basketball, as well as 15-501.

Led by George Lynch, Eric Montross and Final Four MOP Donald Williams, the Tar Heels went 34-4 overall, 14-2 in the ACC, and won the national championship.

This is somewhat an odd grouping, but remember, it’s the whole of the season that matters most in this exercise.

Bill Guthridge succeeded Smith for only three seasons before retiring, and he led two teams to the Final Four. His final club struggled, however, losing 14 games and winning just 22. But they did reach the Final Four.

Matt Doherty’s first UNC club had a terrific regular season for the most part, finishing 26-7 overall and 13-3 in the ACC. But the Heels struggled a little down the stretch and ended up falling in the NCAA second round to Penn State. Still, the noteworthy season-wide improvement was enough to make this list.

Note: The 2002 Tar Heels went 8-20 and the 2003 Tar Heels, Doherty’s last club, went 19-16. Neither team had a rebound season the following year.

Carolina was on a roll going 13-2 in NCAA Tournament play in the 2007, 2008, and 2009 seasons combined. But the core of that team was gone, and the 2010 squad was highly flawed. Those Heels ended up going 20-17 overall, 5-11 in the ACC, and reached the finals of the NIT.

A year later, with a bit more experience and freshmen Harrison Barnes and Kendall Marshall on board, UNC went 19-8 overall, 14-2 in the ACC, and reached the Elite Eight.

The 2015 Tar Heels were pretty good at times, and their growth could be measured. Still, they ended up 26-12 overall and 11-7 in the ACC before reaching the Sweet 16.

A year later, however, everything fell into place. UNC went 33-7 overall, 14-4 in the ACC, and reached the NCAA championship game where it lost at the buzzer to Villanova. A year later, the Heels won the national title.

Note: UNC went 14-19 in 2020 and 18-11 in 2021. There really wasn’t a full rebound because the 2022 Heels went 29-10, but did reach the national championship game.