That sound you heard Thursday night was every sportswriter simultaneously firing off the same tweet.
North Carolina: Preseason No. 1 to NIT.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 10, 2023
North Carolina. No. 1 to NIT.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 10, 2023
North Carolina, No. 1 to NIT. A historic bust for a preseason No. 1 team.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) March 10, 2023
North Carolina's bubble burst on Thursday.
It's a shocking outcome for a program that reached the finals last year and retained the core that led it there.
The Tar Heels lost to the Kansas Jayhawks 72-69 in the NCAA championship game a season ago after blowing a 40-25 halftime lead, but still built up enough goodwill to score the Associated Press preseason No. 1 rank heading into this season.
That's historically been a harbinger of at the very least reaching the NCAA Tournament since the field expanded to 64 teams. North Carolina is poised to buck trends with its 68-59 loss to Virginia.
Entering Thursday's game, the Tar Heels ranked 90th in offensive rating (108.1) and 128th in defensive rating (100.1). They didn't excel on either end of the floor and paired with an inconsistent regular season, North Carolina likely won't have a strong enough resume to have a chance to reach the Final Four for a second consecutive year.
Key contributors to last year's tournament darlings including Caleb Love, Armando Bacot, RJ Davis, Leaky Black and Puff Johnson returned but couldn't bottle the magic that led them from a No. 8 seed to nearly cutting down the nets in New Orleans.
People were quick to point out the epic flameout this season, with USA Today national sportswriter Dan Wolken particularly critical of head coach Hubert Davis for the team's 2022-23 faceplant.
North Carolina, the preseason No. 1 team, loses to Virginia and is almost certainly NIT-bound. A massive failure of a season for Hubert Davis and a group of players that made the NCAA title game a year ago.
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) March 10, 2023
Preseason No. 1 North Carolina will play in the NIT despite returning four starters from last season's team that reached the national title game. https://t.co/OG2oOReMdG
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 10, 2023
The Ringer's Rodger Sherman took a different approach, pointing out the troll job the Tar Heels perfected by essentially having the same team that sent Duke's Mike Krzyzewski into retirement fail to make the big dance the following season.
I have decided that North Carolina missing the NCAA Tournament with roughly the same team that beat Duke in the Final Four in Coach K's last game makes the fact that they beat Duke in the Final Four in Coach K's last game even funnier
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) March 10, 2023
That wasn't the intention when North Carolina set out to avenge its championship game loss, but it's one of the few things the Tar Heels can hang their hat on after a season unlike any other.
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