<\/p>\n
North Carolina made history — the wrong kind — in its loss to Duke on Saturday and will likely make more — also the wrong kind — next week once the NCAA Tournament field is set.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
The Tar Heels lost for the 12th time this season, giving the program the most losses by an Associated Press preseason\u00a0No. 1 team in the preseason poll’s 61-year history.<\/p>\n
That’s not even the worst of it. Selection Sunday will come around on March 12 and unless North Carolina goes on a miraculous run in the ACC tournament, it’s very likely that the Tar Heels will the first AP preseason No. 1 team to fail to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.\u00a0Per ESPN’s Bracketology<\/a>, North Carolina is on the bubble as a “First Four Out” team.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n North Carolina enters the ACC tournament<\/a> as the conference’s No. 7 seed and will play either Boston College (15-16) or Louisville (4-27) on Wednesday. Because of both teams’ 2022-23 struggles, a win for the Tar Heels still won’t move the needle much when it comes to their tournament chances. A loss, meanwhile, would nail North Carolina’s coffin outright.<\/p>\n The team could potentially get a game against the conference’s No. 2 seed — Virginia (23-6) — in the quarterfinals, where a win would obviously help matters. North Carolina beat<\/a> the Cavaliers 71-63 on Feb. 25, for what it is worth.<\/p>\n A rematch with Duke would only happen if both teams reach the ACC Championship Game. That’s a lot to ask for a North Carolina squad which has repeatedly failed to get off the ground this season. In Saturday’s home loss to Duke, the Tar Heels fell by a 62-57 score, the second of two low-scoring games between the fierce rivals during the current campaign.<\/p>\n For their part, the Blue Devils avenged (by degrees) their Final Four loss<\/a> to UNC last spring by sweeping the season series while holding North Carolina under 60 points in both games.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n It’s the first time the Tar Heels failed to score 60 points in both regular-season games against Duke since the 2009-10 season. North Carolina is now in danger of finishing a story never told before.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n