Think back to Coach K’s final game as head coach, a Final Four loss against UNC. The Cameron Crazies swore revenge against Hubert Davis and his Tar Heels for denying the legendary coach one last shot at a title. Fast forward a few years later, and Duke has gotten even in style! The Tar Heels were looking to defy all odds and enter the March Madness tournament, and Cooper Flagg’s injury gave them a much-needed lifeline, too.

Without the six-foot-nine star on the hardwood floor, they actually stood a chance. However, even after staging an intense second-half comeback, they fell short of their goal. A costly misstep by Jae’Lyn Withers sealed the deal for Davis’ team in the ACC Tournament semifinal.

But their March Madness hopes aren’t completely through yet! Selection Sunday is yet to come, and some experts still believe in the Tar Heels. Legendary ESPN broadcaster Dick Vitale put out a tweet talking about the precarious situation UNC is in. “My hoops eye test says that @UNC_Basketball belongs in @MarchMadnessMBB but if Committee honors what they preach they are in big trouble as their Quad 1 record of 1-12 hurts them big time . Must Win some of those matchups.” With the amount of experience that Vitale has accrued, there’s genuine validity to his eye-test. However, the amount of Quad 1 losses that UNC has on its record might overpower expertise at this point.

We’ve seen this sentiment before, however. RJ Davis emphasized on a similar point in the post-game press conference after the ACCT loss. “I think we’ve shown these past couple of weeks that we are a tournament team.” He called his Tar Heels ‘a special team,’ talking about the adversity that they overcame throughout the season. Which makes sense, especially considering the comeback that they staged in the last six weeks of conference play.

However, the NCAA community did not react kindly to Dick Vitale’s sentiments. While his predictions eventually ended up at the common consensus–UNC will most likely miss the NCAA Tournament this season–the optimism he showed about the team caused an uproar.

Fans react to Dick Vitale’s tweet, hold nothing back against Hubert Davis’ team

Dick Vitale’s ‘eye test’ argument gained no traction on social media, as fans went ballistic regarding his comments. After a 22-13 overall record, and 12 Quad 1 losses, the NCAA community does not believe in UNC’s bid for the NCAA Tournament. They called out Hubert Davis’ teams and held them accountable for their shortcomings.

One user on X criticized the logic behind the argument. “Why play the games if the decision is made on a gut feeling? They had plenty of opportunities to get Quad 1 wins but didn’t. They didn’t beat a team all season that will be in the tournament. There are more deserving teams.” The Tar Heels suffered a rocky start to the season. They lost close games to Stanford, Wake Forest, and Florida, but it was a thrashing from Clemson that really woke them up.

However, according to fans, their last minute comeback wasn’t enough. A Tar Heels fan resigned himself to pessimism on X. “I’m a big UNC fan but no team with 14 losses should be allowed to play for a nat’l championship. If that’s allowed then the whole tourney is nothing more than a TV and $ event.” While another wasn’t as kind to Vitale, getting personal with his retorts. “Well one of your eyes is fake right?”

Eye test aside, UNC is currently on the wrong side of the bubble. With their NET ranking having dropped to #36, no one really knows whether they’ll end up making the Tournament. However, the argument that North Carolina played a really close game with Duke on Friday was debunked by a number of people online.

Fans brought up the numerous advantages that the Chapel Hill boys had in their ACCT semi-final. “Getting beat without their best player, another player and game getting fixed, ya right.” A lot of viewers pointed out how Duke players weren’t getting calls in the second half, while UNC were frequent visitors at the line. Not only that, Maliq Brown, and Cooper Flagg’s injuries weakened their front court beyond measure. “No they don’t, they hung with duke without flag ,come on man ,you have to win to get in.” Another fan said, holding nothing back in front of the ESPN legend.

There are a lot of arguments for and against having UNC in the NCAA Tournament, but it will all come down to this Sunday. The committee will make the final decision about who gets to compete, and who doesn’t. And it will be a doozy! If North Carolina manage to make it to March Madness, there’s no telling how far they can go.