I’m sure the North Carolina Tar Heels want to forget all about their trip to the Maui Invitational, which turned them from National Championship contenders into a program with several questions.
UNC (4-3) started its Maui run with a comeback victory over Dayton, which ended its Maui slate by sending UConn to its third straight loss. North Carolina was overwhelmed by Johni Broome and the Auburn Tigers in a Maui semifinal matchup, then the Tar Heels lost in overtime to Michigan State.
With UNC nearly going winless in the Maui and largely struggling to play well against great teams, UNC dropped out of Andy Katz’ Power 37 rankings.
Auburn led the Power 37, Michigan State came in at 26th and Dayton is 30th. It’s a good sign for North Carolina that it beat a Power 37 team, but losing to two others shows the possibility UNC isn’t amongst the country’s best teams in 2024.
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On Wednesday, the Tar Heels have another Power 37 test against Alabama, which slotted in at 11th this week. The Crimson Tide (6-2) advanced to the Players Era Festival title game over Thanksgiving Week, losing to undefeated Oregon on Saturday.
Unlike UNC, Alabama has a pair of victories over ranked teams: Illinois (15th in Power 37, 19th in AP Poll) and Houston (17th in AP Poll). The Crimson Tide are led by Mark Sears and Grant Nelson, the latter of whom took over against North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament.
After facing the Crimson Tide, the Tar Heels will open ACC play against Georgia Tech on Saturday.
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