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Is this Carolina’s last realistic chance to get another Quad 1 win?
The Tar Heels’ two-point victory over Dayton in Maui is their only Quad 1 win so far, having lost to Kansas, Auburn, Michigan State, Alabama, and Florida. And Dayton, which is currently No. 34 in the NET Rankings, may not wind up as a Quad 1.
Beating UCLA Saturday at Madison Square Garden would be UNC’s best win of the season. The Bruins, 10-1, are No. 12 in the NET as of Thursday. Carolina’s 92-89 “good loss” at Kansas is the least-damaging defeat so far for the 6-5 Heels, who are NET No. 45.
That we are even discussing NCAA Tournament chances in mid-December is a warning sign of how perilous Carolina’s position is after beating four mid-majors and the three-point win over Georgia Tech (NET 177).
Sure, there are home-and-homes with Duke (NET 3) and Pitt (NET 11), but barring a dramatic turnaround, what are the chances of beating the Blue Devils and Panthers once, let alone sweeping them? Not good.
And with the ACC ranked well below the SEC, Big 12, Big 10 and Big East, how much value will beating other in-conference opponents carry? Not much.
The rest of the ACC NET rankings go from Clemson (27) to SMU (41) and the 13 other teams stretched out from Louisville (61) all the way down to Boston College (192). Not helpful.
The CBS Sports Classic at the Garden features Ohio State versus Kentucky in the first game before Carolina’s 3 p.m. tipoff. The Tar Heels are 6-4 in this event that began in 2014. They have beaten the Buckeyes three times, UCLA twice and Kentucky once. They lost to the Wildcats four times, including the epic 2016 overtime thriller in Las Vegas.
Carolina is 11-3 all-time against the Bruins, who are now coached by Mick Cronin, including six straight wins and 10 of the last 11 meetings. The most infamous was in the 1968 NCAA championship blowout to then-named Lew Alcindor. The 78-55 score was the widest margin in the national title game until UNLV beat Duke in 1990 by 30.
The last time they played was during the Tar Heels’ magical 2022 run, when Caleb Love scored 27 of his 30 points in the second half of the 73-66 win in the Sweet Sixteen. Love hit the tying and go-ahead 3-pointers less than a minute apart late in the game. Armando Bacot had a double-double of 14 and 15, including a spectacular save and assist to Love for his last three ball that gave Carolina a 67-64 lead with 1:03 remaining.
Those shots were overshadowed by Love’s 28 points against Duke in the national semifinals that, of course, included the dramatic long ball over the outstretched arm of Mark Williams that secured the 81-77 win in Mike Krzyzewski’s last game.
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Featured image via Todd Melet
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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