Sometimes you can see a car crash coming from miles away.
The UNC basketball program, fresh off its win of the season, looked like it had no juice or sense when it took the court at Watsco Center. Miami, 7-3 in ACC play but without a marquee win, looked ready to pounce on a UNC team that looked like they had celebrated their win over Duke well into Sunday morning and were ill-prepared for their trip to Coral Gables.
Unfortunately for North Carolina, they could not take the next step of beating a top team by following that win up with an away win over a solid team. The Tar Heels have now lost five games, but only one of them was to a ranked opponent (Michigan State). All of UNC's losses have occurred outside of the Dean Dome, so you can perhaps chalk up another argument for the "Renovate" crowd.
North Carolina will make the tournament. Let's not get crazy. But their status as a protected top-16 seed is in peril. Let's dive into some lessons learned from a disappointing loss at Miami.