Hubert Davis made sure to gaslight North Carolina fans after Duke catastrophe

There's no denying it now, the North Carolina Tar Heels are on the outside looking in at the NCAA Tournament field following back-to-back losses against Pitt and Duke. North Carolina entered the week on the bubble, but a defeat to a fellow bubble team in the Panthers followed by an utter no-show vs Duke was, well, less than ideal.

The Heels failed to make the tournament two seasons ago as well despite a loaded roster, which put Hubert Davis squarely on the hot seat entering the 2024-25 campaign. Basically, the Heels need to make a splash in March Madness or else Davis could find himself unemployed. If Davis were fired after this season, UNC would have to pay a $1.2 million buyout, which is fairly affordable by college basketball head coach standards.

Hubert Davis may not realize he's on the hot seat at North Carolina

North Carolina is one of the best jobs in the sport, so the Heels administration would have their pick of a replacement. By no means should UNC fans tolerate this kind of complacency, which makes Davis's comments after the Heels loss to Duke all the more confounding.

"The thing that I've been proud of with this team is its fight. It stays connected. It stays together," Davis said. "Well, obviously we're not where we want it to be. But I go back to how do you react and how do you respond? And you move forward, you continue to competitively fight, and there's so much of a season still left to get better and to improve."

Improvement alone is not be enough for Davis and the Heels to make the tournament, as the ACC may not get more than five teams in the field. What was once one of the strongest conferences in men's college basketball is suddenly among the weakest in the Power-5, overtaken by the SEC and Big 12. That makes Davis's signs of encouragement all the more frustrated for a fanbase that expects to win, and win big.

"The one encouraging thing for me is that I don't think we've reached our full potential, and that's out there. I've seen how good we can be on both ends of the floor, the consistency is the thing that is needed from this group. And we have time, and we have the opportunity to move forward to be able to do that, and we're very thankful for that last one. I love this team here. I love coaching this group, and I believe in this team. I think we can be really good," Davis continued.

I am here for optimism, don't get me wrong. Too often in sports we focus on the negatives, and North Carolina defeating Duke always seemed like a longshot. But this is North Carolina we're talking about. Making the tournament every year in the baseline measurement of success.