No. 20: 2012

Our series counting down the Top 30 North Carolina basketball teams of all time continues.

Our mission isn't to make any declarative statements, but rather have some fun, give our readers something to discuss, walk down memory lane some and provide a needed escape.

Your thoughts and picks are welcome in our message board thread for this series.

Record: 32-6 (14-2)

NCAA Tournament: NCAA Elite 8

ACC Tournament: Lost in finals

Ranking: 4

Coach: Roy Williams

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's To Know: 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.

2011-12 Schedule & Results

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