NCAA Basketball: 10 takeaways from Week 3

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GLENDALE, AZ – APRIL 03: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels celebrates with his team and grandchildren after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the 2017 NCAA Men’s Final Four National Championship game at University of Phoenix Stadium on April 3, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. The Tar Heels defeated the Bulldogs 71-65. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

North Carolina are not National Championship contenders – yet

The defending champion North Carolina Tar Heels lost a lot from last season but still entered 2017-18 with high expectations.

Currently ranked No. 9 – although not for long – the Tar Heels were absolutely dismantled by the Michigan State Spartans.

This is a somewhat surprising result, as UNC beat several solid college basketball teams to begin the season. Their first real test came in the PK80 Victory Bracket final, and they fell short.

I at least believed it would be somewhat close, as Joel Berry is finally getting back to full health and Luke Maye has been playing great. Neither could buy a bucket on Sunday night, and the team lost because of it.

Sure, this will queue the hot takes that UNC is not an elite team in college basketball right now – and they would be right.

The Tar Heels could not hang with the likes of Michigan State, and that has to be concerning for their future showdowns with the Duke Blue Devils.

However, this is still North Carolina, the talent on this team is still immense, and Roy Williams is still the coach. There is work to do, but don’t count UNC out just yet.

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