A few things to remember as summer turns into fall.

The energy and excitement around Chapel Hill is reminiscent of the days when that feeling was an off-season rite. Football was a prelude, hoping those Tar Heels could have a great start and not turn the fans’ attention in October to the roundball sport.

But there are a few things to consider to sober us up that could have altered how we feel today about the coming basketball season.

Remember, Hubert Davis’ first team struggled early and was on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament, maybe sliding off it, after an embarrassing show at home against Pitt, a terrible loss in front of a relatively small, quiet crowd.

The Tar Heels went into the last week of the regular season 21-8, still needing something special to happen. And after gutting out an overtime win against Syracuse they pulled it off at Duke, beginning a four-week span that will never be forgotten by either fan base.

But, along the way, Carolina lost badly to Virginia Tech in the ACC tournament, the Heels’ worst game over the last month. I remember feeling relieved that angry Duke did not get a chance to exact revenge in the ACC championship game.

Landing a No. 8 NCAA seed on the basis of the win at Cameron, the Heels blew out Marquette in the first round and led Baylor by 25 with 10 minutes left in the round of 32. The heart-pounding overtime win might have instead been among the worst losses in UNC history if freshman Dontrez Styles did not hit a 3-pointer from the corner on the first possession of OT. Think of how different the conversation would be today had that happened.

And Carolina could have easily lost to fourth-seeded UCLA in the Sweet Sixteen if not for Caleb Love’s late-game heroics. Sure, it was a break to play smaller Cinderella St. Peter’s in the Elite Eight instead of a Purdue team that had beaten UNC earlier in the season. Duke, of course, caught similar good fortune by avoiding Gonzaga in the Midwest Region final.
Yes, the second win over Coach K in four weeks made the Final Four all the sweeter, and the Tar Heels might have hung on to beat Kansas for the national championship if Bacot, Love and Puff had been able to play at full strength.

Wasn’t it Dean Smith who used to say about winning it all, “You’ve got to be good. . . and lucky?” Let’s keep that in mind along with our fingers crossed.

 

Featured image via Todd Melet

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