The ceiling is the... well, never mind.
As legendary as that joke has become, the North Carolina Tar Heels will likely be ranked inside next week’s AP Top-10, and that’s for real. It feels like it’s been ages since the Tar Heels were on the doorstep of the nation’s elite by the conclusion of non-conference play. It gives me great joy to say, though; that’s exactly where they are.
North Carolina hasn’t done everything right up to this point, but the level of basketball has been significantly raised from the last two regular seasons. It’d been four years since the Heels last took down a non-conference top-10 opponent—they’ve done it twice this season already.