NCAA Bracket 2012: 5 Reasons North Carolina Is Destined for an Early Exit

The Tar Heels will enter this year’s tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region after a great season with only four losses. Despite that success, the Tar Heels are destined for an early exit.

The Tar Heels are extremely talented, with speed around the perimeter and size inside of the box, and second chance opportunities have been few and far between for opponents.

Despite the undeniable talent that the Tar Heels have this season, here are the five reasons why they'll face an early exit from this year’s tournament. 

Losing Dexter Strickland Hurts

The Tar Heels are very talented this season but they lack the depth that is usually found in a Roy Williams lineup, and losing their best man defender and reserve point guard can’t help matters.

Dexter Strickland has been a force for the Tar Heels off the bench, providing solid defense and an offensive spark. Strickland is also the Tar Heels second leading assist man, compounding the issues surrounding his untimely injury.

Will one role player's absence kill the Tar Heels' title shot? Not necessarily, but when combined with other issues and the talent in this year's tournament, it could be a quick out.

Big Loss to FSU in January Shows Lack of Focus

No, I am not worried about the Tar Heels loss to the Seminoles in the ACC Tournament. I am concerned, however, about the terrible loss that FSU handed North Carolina on January 14.

The Tar Heels were throttled 90-57 in Tallahassee. Losing an away game is understandable, especially to a team as talented as the Seminoles, but losing by 33? That is a bit absurd.

That shows this team's lack of focus and that will be a huge crutch to overcome in the tournament. 

The Three- Pointer Will Reign

The Tar Heels are very talented across the board, and one of their best strengths is their ability to grab rebounds over the competition and play tough man defense. On the other hand, one of their obvious weak points is their inability to stop the three point shot.

If there is a team that can find a hot streak and lay on the three-point shot, Carolina will face an early exit. They play great defense and will not allow second chances at the basket, but a team that can find consistent production from the three-point arc will take down the Tar Heels.

Field Goal Mediocrity

The Tar Heels are a middle of the pack team in field goal production. In fact, they rank No. 54 overall in shot percentage.

As the talent thickens inside tournament play, every shot will matter. Carolina will play tough defense and will look to use their fast attack offense to get a lot of attempts on the basket, but good defensive teams will look to slow down the transition game.

Carolina will need to not only use their speed but will also need to improve their shot selection if they don’t expect to face an early exit.

Lack of Bench Players

I have touched on the lack of depth a bit previously, but this could be a bigger issue as the tournament gets rolling. The Tar Heels are already down one star with the Dexter Strickland injury and can’t afford another injury.

The Tar Heels have three future NBA stars in Harrison Barnes, Tyler Zeller and John Henson up front but they will need depth as the tournament progresses and they're matched with some of the most elite talent in the country. Fatigue will hit these guys.

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