by UNC’s basketball program came into Selection Sunday expecting to miss out on the NCAA Tournament after failing to do enough towards the end of the season to qualify as the overall team.
After it became official that the Tar Heels would not participate in March Madness, they became the first preseason AP No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 to miss the NCAA Tournament since the field expanded in 1985.
The Tar Heels also turned down an offer to play in the NIT, ending their 2022-23 season.
But when it was all over and the entire field was announced, UNC was still considered by some people to be a snub of the NCAA Tournament.
“UNC made a painful story Sunday night. The Tar Heels became the first AP preseason No. 1 team to miss the NCAA tournament since the field expanded to 64 in 1985. Despite returning with four starters from last year’s national runner-ups, Carolina del Norte never came close to recapturing the form they showed last year. March. The Tar Heels went 2-9 in Quadrant 1 games, with one of those wins coming against an Ohio State team that finished next to last in the Big Ten. When North Carolina lost a defensive scramble to Virginia in the ACC quarterfinals, the Tar Heels seemed to know their fate. Asked if he had a “case” for why his team deserved an NCAA bid, head coach Hubert Davis said candidly: “At the end of the day, we had our chances.”
The fact that North Carolina was still only the third team out of the field showed just how weak the bubble teams were this season, but also that if North Carolina had won maybe just one of the numerous games in which it had a advantage in the second half, I would be dancing.
Instead, UNC sets out to find out what their roster will look like next season, which is expected to be live on the transfer portal.
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The story originally appeared on Tarheels Wire
