The North Carolina Tar Heels wrapped up the 2023 season in disappointing fashion. A season that started with a big win over Charlotte over South Carolina ended in a loss to West Virginia in that same stadium.
UNC finished the year 8-5 after getting off to a 6-0 start and getting to the Top 10 in the AP Poll. But losses to Virginia and Georgia Tech derailed the season and in the end, UNC closed it out by losing to Clemson, NC State and West Virginia.
While an 8-5 record is ‘pretty good around here’ according to Mack Brown, it’s simply not enough. And one college writer proved that with one simple post on X (formerly Twitter):
North Carolina won eight games this year by beating South Carolina, App State, Minnesota, Pitt, Syracuse, Miami, Campbell and Duke. Keep that in mind next time someone insists winning eight games is a great season in college football.
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) December 28, 2023
Wolken has a point. UNC’s wins weren’t really ‘stand out’ wins this season and while they beat a rival in Duke, it was against a third-string quarter and a game they really could have easily lost.
With a potential Heisman candidate going into the season and what will be a top 5 pick come April’s draft in Drake Maye, PLUS all the returning talent, UNC underachieved. Plain and simple.
So no, Mack, 8-5 isn’t pretty good around here, especially after how the last two seasons have ended.
The bad news? I think it gets a little worse before it gets better and this offseason is going to be a very important one.
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