Top 5 North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball Teams That Never Won a Championship

The Tar Heels have had many legendary basketball teams on the court over the past years, and many of those teams went on to win a national championship. The Heels won national championships in 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005 and most recently in 2009.

Though most programs in the country would love the idea of just one championship, the Tar Heels, in my humble opinion, should have more championship banners hanging in their rafters.

Without further ado, I give you the five teams that should have brought home the title to Franklin Street.

No. 5: 1993-1994 North Carolina Tar Heels

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University of North Carolina center Eric Montross. Mandatory Credit: Doug Pensinger/ALLSPORT

28-7 Record

ACC Tournament Champions

Lost to Boston College 75-72 in Second Round of NCAA Tournament

The '94 Tar Heels had a fantastic squad with huge, powerful senior big man Eric Montross in the middle and diaper dandy freshmen Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse. The Heels also had seasoned veterans in Brian Reese, Derrick Phelps and Kevin Salvadori, as well as developing sophomore Dante Calabria.

The Heels swept Duke that year and won the ACC Tournament, beating Wake Forest in OT and then Virginia. The Heels were upset in the second round by Boston College.

No. 4: 1976-1977 North Carolina Tar Heels

Phil Ford

28-5 Record

ACC Regular Season Champions

ACC Tournament Champions

Lost 67-59 to Marquette in the national championship

The 1976 and '77 Tar Heels were led by a silky All-American guard by the name of Phil Ford and a imposing center by the name of Tommy LaGarde. The Heels swept Duke and won the regular season and tournament championships of the ACC. The Heels were heavily favored in the championship game against Marquette but were upset 67-59.

No. 3: 1994-95 North Carolina Tar Heels

Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace

28-6 Record

ACC Regular Season Champions

Lost 75-68 to Arkansas in the Final Four

This team had the best starting five in the country. They had national player of the year Jerry Stackhouse and fellow All-American Rasheed Wallace at forward with center Serge Zwikker. The backcourt was also not too shabby with guards Dante Calabria and Jeff McInnis.

The Heels were extremely talented and should have won the ACC tournament, but Randolph Childress had one of the greatest performances in ACC tournament history, beating the Heels in OT 82-80.

The Heels were taken out in the Final Four by Arkansas.

No. 2: 1997-98 North Carolina Tar Heels

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21 Mar 1998: Guard Vince Carter of the North Carolina Tar Heels in action during an NCAA Tournament game against the Connecticut Huskies at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. North Carolina defeated Connecticut 75-64. Mandatory Credi

34-4 Record

ACC Regular Season Champions

Lost 65-59 to Utah in the Final Four

This Heels squad is probably my favorite team of all time. They had Vince Carter and national player of the year Antawn Jamison at forward. They had a pass first guard in Ed Cota. They had a sweet shooter in Shammond Williams, and they had amazing frontcourt depth in Makhtar Ndiaye and Ademola Okulaja. The Heels were also returning an almost completely intact squad from their Final Four run the year before.

The Heels won their first 17 games before losing in overtime to Maryland in the regular season and beat Duke in the ACC championship by 15 points en route to the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. This team should have annihilated the competition on route to the championship but was upset by Utah in the Final Four.

One thing that needs to be mentioned is that Shammond Williams, I think, singlehandedly lost the Final Four games in '97 and '98. The kid just kept shooting the rock with abysmal results, and he killed his teams two years in a row.

No. 1: 1983-84 North Carolina Tar Heels

The great one Michael Jordan

28-3 Record

ACC Regular Season Champs

Lost 72-66 to Indiana in the Sweet 16

Oh, what should have been. This Heels team is one of the best teams ever, period. The Heels had the greatest player in the country in Michael Jordan and had five future first-round picks in Jordan, Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty, Kenny Smith and Joe Wolf.

The three games they lost during the whole season, including the ACC and NCAA tournament, were by a combined total of seven points. They demolished the competition in the regular season, only losing on the road to Arkansas by one. They were undefeated in ACC regular season play. It took a miracle on Duke's part to upset them in the ACC tournament.

The Heels lost in the round of 16 to Indiana, 72-68.