What Has Happened To The Tar Heels?

If you’re head is stuck in the Super Bowl odds and your NFL picks, and you’re expecting see everything all fine and dandy once March Madness rolls around, you might be shocked by what you see this year.

The North Carolina Tar Heels, who are the reigning National Champions, may not even make the tournament if they keep things up the way they’ve been playing. As crazy as it sounds, there is a distinct possibility of that.

For most teams, a three-game losing streak is just a hiccup. For many of those same teams, it takes a four- or five-game losing streak before the red flags start to be hoisted. But the reality is very different for the boys from Chapel Hill and there are some real concerns starting to mount for Roy Williams crew, which has now lost four of their last six and are just 13-7 overall. In the process, the Tar Heels have tumbled from the Top 25 and are sitting somewhere on that oh-so uncomfortable bubble. Granted, because of their brand name, they would probably find a way to be on the inside but they should be concerned right about now.

The good news for North Carolina is that they finally bounced back and got a win in their last contest. The Tar Heels took care of business as state rivals North Carolina State came to town. But a good handicapper knows that one win doesn’t give us the entire picture. Instead, the schedule is what we have to look at.

The Tar Heels have losses at Syracuse, at Kentucky and at Texas. Considering all three teams could be No. 1 seeds, nobody is going to fault them for that.

But the Tar Heels also have losses at the College of Charleston, at Clemson and then at home to Georgia Tech and Wake Forest.

The real issue for North Carolina is the lack of a quality point guard. The graduation of Ty Lawson has left a huge hole in the Tar Heels back court and they have felt that ripple effect through the rest of their offense.

The Tar Heels had 61 turnovers in January and they have had trouble running their offense, penetrating and getting open shots.

Larry Drew II has been good at home filling in for Lawson but on the road, he has struggled. On the road, that has been a different story.

The Tar Heels will make the tournament but this is one of the weaker powder blue squads we’ve seen in a while.

Betting tips: don’t bet on the Tar Heels to go deep in the Tournament this year.