Being a lifelong UNC Basketball fan has been, with rare exceptions, a great thing. We’ve gotten to cheer for legendary players and coaches, celebrate national championships, and rush Franklin Street after big wins. Carolina’s unmatched decades-long run of consistent excellence comes with a price, though. The lows, though few and far between, feel really low. That’s where we stand at this moment, after Carolina suffered a soul-crushing defeat to the Wolfpack on Sunday afternoon in PNC Arena to put their already perilous NCAA Tournament chances on the bracketologist equivalent of life support.
I’ve spent all day tossing this game, and this season, around in my mind. It’s easy to hop online immediately after a game ends and rip the players, rip the coach, and just get it all out. That’s all I saw on Twitter as State made a run to erase a six-point deficit and run away with the game in the final minutes. I get it. It’s cathartic. But it’s not very productive, and it’s not very fair to anyone involved.
I’ve thought about this season and last season. I’ve thought about last year’s NCAA Tournament run, and how this year’s team may not even get the chance to make one. With all that in mind, let’s look at three takeaways from a game that served as a microcosm of Carolina’s season to this point.