Where do these Tar Heels stack up against No. 1s of the past?
With little surprise, Carolina has been picked to win the national championship for a record 10th time by the Associated Press in its preseason rankings. Of the previous nine, only two UNC teams went on to cut down the NCAA nets on Monday night, the 1982 and 2009 teams, both solid favorites for having most players back from the previous Final Four.
Only one top-ranked team that was a defending national champion and probably should have won it all again, were the 1994 Tar Heels, who had four starters back from Dean Smith’s second NCAA champs, and three highly recruited freshmen but had lost their heart and soul captain George Lynch.
Two other No. 1 picks, one that didn’t go on to win the national title, were also in the prior Final Four – Phil Ford’s depleted 1978 Heels and the current 2022-23 team, which has four starters back and far more depth than last season.
And three teams that never went to the Final Four either year but remained ranked No. 1 for much of the season were Michael Jordan’s 1984 Tar Heels, J.R. Reid’s 1987 team and the 2012 Heels with Tyler Zeller, Harrison Barnes, John Henson, Reggie Bullock and Kendal Marshall.
Noted, all three had significant absentees during the Big Dance: 1984 freshman point guard Kenny Smith with a bum wrist; Jeff Lebo, a captain of the 1987 team, played the Elite 8 game while sick, and the 2012 Heels had a great shot before losing Marshall with a broken wrist in the second round.
Hubert Davis’ second team is one of those rare entries in today’s college basketball that is coming off the Final Four with all eligible returning starters back for another season. Lately, those teams usually lose almost everyone.
North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis reacts during the second half of a college basketball game against Kansas in the finals of the Men’s Final Four NCAA tournament, Monday, April 4, 2022, in New Orleans. With four starters back from the team that blew a 15-point halftime lead to Kansas at the Superdome in New Orleans, the Tar Heels were the runaway pick as the preseason No. 1 in the AP Top 25. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
The 1982 team had James Worthy and Sam Perkins back from the 1981 Final Four entry and replaced Al Wood with Jordan. Roy Williams’ second NCAA champion Tar Heels in 2009 returned seniors Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green, along with juniors Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington, from the team that lost to Kansas in the 2008 semifinals.
Those are the only UNC teams that went through the gauntlet of reaching the Final Four and came back to try to win it the next year. The 2022-23 Tar Heels may not have quite the star power of those natty champs, but they do have rare, experienced talent in a game that has turned much younger.
Photo via AP Photo/Gerry Broome.
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