Remember when we talked about North Carolina’s upward trajectory last week after their win against NC State? The team had won its third consecutive game, making it only the 2nd time they managed the streak this season. Well, all that optimism from the fans has come crashing down as Hubert Davis’ side has now lost to the Stanford Cardinal 71-72. This defeat ended a 13-game win streak over the Stanford Cardinal, and with it, hopes on the Tar Heels’ future performance.

Dark clouds are looming over coach Hubert Davis’ future following the loss against a team that hasn’t made the NCAA tournament in a decade. They are currently 5th in the ACC with a 5-2 record while continuing to be unranked for a 6th successive week.

Forget about winning against conference leaders like Duke, the 2022 NCAA runners-up aren’t even the favorites against Wake Forest and Pittsburgh. Analyst John Fanta from the Field of 68: After Dark podcast isn’t holding back. He’s so sure the Tar Heels will drop one of their next three road games that he’s ready to stake his life savings on it. Maybe it’s confidence or maybe just a sharp jab at a team struggling to find its footing. Either way, the pressure is mounting in Chapel Hill for Hubert Davis.

Speaking on the podcast, Fanta says, “They aren’t even remotely close to winning against Duke. Weird things can happen in a rivalry game, but they aren’t beating Cooper Flagg and the Duke. Two of their next three games are at Wake and Pitt. If I could bet my life savings that they would lose one of those games, I would.”

UNC currently stands 12-7 overall, losing three of their 5 true road games. Though Pittsburg and Wake Forest haven’t exactly been top-of-the-table contenders, Cats’ loss against the Cardinals isn’t igniting hope. RJ Davis led the Tar Heels with 19 points and Seth Trimble attempted to keep the back-and-forth alive, but 3 turnovers in ten minutes would prove costly for the team. Stanford capitalized on the opportunity, handing UNC a loss to snap a 4-game win streak. 

Their narrow, 63-61 win against NC State was no confidence booster either for the analysts. Despite some good individual showcases, it took the Wildcats a dunk and a block in the final seconds to seal the deal. This had forced analyst Tim Donnelly to admit “I don’t know if that makes me very confident.” Now that team against Duke, which leads the ACC and has lost only 2 games so far, is a pretty challenging picture. ESPN predicts the game in favor of the Blue Devils with 89.5. Jeff Goodman blames a part of it on not making the most of the transfer portal.

He says, “This is North Carolina. They’ve got money, they’ve got tradition. You should be able to get players and again their staff did not do a good job in getting bigs in the portal period.” Cade Tyson and Ven-Allen Lubin were two acquired this season. While the latter was the second-leading scorer for the game against Stanford, the two are yet to show up.

Things are not looking for good Hubert Davis, who has had a topsy-turvy journey with Tar Heels so far. Since getting the Tar Heels to an unlikely NCAA final while being the 8th seed in 2022, the Tar Heels have been extremely inconsistent. This begs the question, is time’s up for Hubert Davis? or are there more chapters to be written? It may depend on the upcoming brutal ACC stretch of games!

What’s next for coach Davis and the Tar Heels?

The Tar Heels are staring down games against Wake Forest, Boston College, Pittsburgh, and Duke for their next four, and for the fans, expectations couldn’t be lower than it already is. It would require some solid efforts for Davis and his squad to come out of this grueling stretch of games unscathed.

RJ Davis is to get back on a consistent scoring after recording 7 points across 30 minutes in the game against California after mere 11 and 8 points performance prior. While that transpires, the team has been over relying on freshman Ian Jackson, who ended up having an off day against Stanford, going 1 of 8 from the field. This isn’t a case Hurbert Davis would wish to carry ahead as the road toughens.

Focusing on details and communicating on defense are two things the Tar Heels missed out on against the Cardinals as per the coach and the senior guard. Picking that up, opening space for Jalen Washington and Ven Allen-Lubin who have shown potential in the past few games, and having Jackson bounce back, paints a better picture for the Tar Heels. They face Wake Forest in Winston-Salem on Tuesday at 9 p.m. and hopefully do not build on John Fanta’s bet.