UNC Basketball: Five reasons why UNC can win a National Championship

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CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA – FEBRUARY 23: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels huddles with his starting five during the first half of their game against the Florida State Seminoles at the Dean Smith Center on February 23, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

4. Battle Tested

Always having difficult non-conference schedules to go along with the gauntlet of the ACC, once again the Tar Heels had one of the toughest schedules in the country.

Ranked seventh in KenPom’s strength of schedule ratings, the Tar Heels have played 11 ranked opponents this year, including 14 quadrant one games. There is no question Carolina is battle-tested heading into the NCAA Tournament.

In the non-conference, Carolina went on the road to face Wofford to start the year off. Most people not very knowledgeable of the sport thought this was just another easy win. However, Wofford is ranked in the top 25, went undefeated in their conference schedule, just won their conference tournament, and is a projected 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

After that, the Tar Heels still had a true road game against Michigan, and neutral site games against Texas, UCLA, and Kentucky.

Despite going just 1-3 in those four games, the Tar Heels were able to find all of their weaknesses early.

That right there would be a tough non-conference schedule alone, but the Tar Heels still had home games against Gonzaga, Harvard and Davidson, and won all three.

Obviously, the ACC has had its fair share of teams in the top 25, with the Heels beating Florida State, Virginia Tech, Louisville, N.C State (2x) and Duke (2x) all while ranked in the top 16.

All of these wins, and losses, have prepared the Tar Heels for a deep postseason run.

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