The ACC season started strong for the Tar Heels. Despite having three road contests in a row, Carolina just went in and out toughed the likes of Pittsburgh, Clemson, and NC State to let the rest of the league know that this version of the Tar Heels was different than previous seasons. Fans were excited about the new defensive intensity this squad showed, and how efficient they were on offense.
Since then, though, there has been some slippage. All of the other ACC games besides Duke and the home game against Syracuse have had periods of time where it just seemed like their focus and “toughness” didn’t match what we had seen early on.