Lost in the Zion-mania is how great North Carolina looked dismantling Duke

While college basketball is swept up in Zion Williamson’s knee injury, the biggest takeaway from that game vs. North Carolina is being forgotten: North Carolina is a huge threat to win the national championship.

Almost all the hype in the ACC has been on North Carolina’s rivals, Duke, thanks to the Blue Devils’ class of fabulous freshmen headlined by Williamson. What little attention that wasn’t being given to Duke went to Virginia, which has ridden the Pack Line defense to a 23-2 record and an undefeated record against any team not coached by Mike Krzyzewski.

In spite of all that, Roy Williams’ Tar Heels have quietly plugged along, racking up a 21-5 record and 11-2 mark in ACC play. That puts North Carolina into a three-way tie with Duke and Virginia entering their contest with Florida State on Saturday.

The Tar Heels tested themselves in the non-conference schedule, defeating Gonzaga back in December along with elite mid-major Wofford to open the season while also facing off against the likes of Michigan, Texas, and Kentucky. North Carolina’s only two losses in the ACC portion of the schedule include a 21 point home loss to Louisville (which the Tar Heels avenged by winning at the KFC Yum! Center) and an eight-point setback against Virginia.

The secret to North Carolina’s success has been a potent offense which averages 87.5 points per game, second only to Gonzaga in the country. The Tar Heels shoot a strong 37.7 percent from beyond the arc, giving them more offensive versatility in case they run into a bigger team in the NCAA Tournament.

Williams’ team is also laden with upperclassmen who play key roles in the rotation, another essential for a team that can make a deep run in March. Seniors Cameron Johnson (16.7 ppg) and Luke Maye (15.1 ppg) are two of the Tar Heels’ top three scorers, with Maye nearly averaging a double-double with 9.8 rebounds per game.

The Tar Heels are also getting a ton out of freshman point guard Coby White, who is second on the team in scoring with 15.4 ppg. White has done a tremendous job facilitating the offense, leading the team in assists with 4.2 a night.

Williams has also done a good job maximizing his rotation, utilizing 10 players (including three seniors and two juniors) for at least 11 minutes a night. This ensures that North Carolina will be a deep team in the tournament that should be able to survive if they run into some foul trouble.

There are reasons to be concerned, however, and the biggest red flag is the Tar Heels’ suspect defense. North Carolina gives up 73.2 points per game, which is only 226th in the country, so teams with elite offensive talent could give them trouble.

That may have been the case with Duke if Williamson was able to complete the game, but the Tar Heels outshot the Blue Devils for that game and have plenty of firepower to do so in March. The presence of the steady Williams on the bench, who has nine Final Four appearances and three national championships on his resume, should also help North Carolina if they run into a tough game along the way.

While the majority of the country will pick Duke to win the national title if Williamson is healthy by Selection Sunday, don’t sleep on their in-state rivals in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels are very capable of cutting down the nets in Minneapolis on April 8.