ESPN College GameDay crew debates whether North Carolina is trending down

On a segment on ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday, the crew took a look at the top four seeds that are trending either up or down. The panel opined on North Carolina, which has lost two of its last three games.

There wasn’t a clear consensus on whether North Carolina is trending down or simply going through a rough patch.

“I’m really concerned about UNC, their showing against Clemson,” analyst Andraya Carter said. “And the reason why is because coach Hubert Davis is talking about, ‘I didn’t like our practice, I didn’t like our shootaround.’ Armando Bacot‘s saying they’re coming into warmups late. I think it’s a trip more than a trend, because it’s right after the Duke game.”

If North Carolina’s going to prove it’s not a trend, it’ll have to put together some difficult road wins. Three of the next four games are away from home, against teams currently in the top half of the ACC standings.

The good news is that there isn’t the dreaded Saturday-Monday turnaround in that four-game stretch. And Carolina knows first-hand that turning things around after a big win can be tricky.

The team wasn’t able to keep the momentum going from a huge win over No. 7 Duke, falling to Clemson on Tuesday.

“You saw Cormac Ryan on Franklin Street, his shirt off, hanging out, and you’ve got to flip it and turn it around,” analyst Seth Greenberg said. “That’s difficult.”

Analyst Jay Williams pointed to one thing in particular that North Carolina has to get a handle on if it wants to make a deep run in the postseason.

“Look, I think Carolina’s talented,” Williams said. “They can win a championship, but they just have to be committed on the defensive end.”

So what is the final verdict on whether the Tar Heels are trending down?

Carter, for one, stopped short of saying the current situation is indicative of a team trending down. But with tricky games on the horizon, the Tar Heels had better lock in quickly.

“I’m hoping this is just a little moment for UNC, but even Armando Bacot after Clemson said, ‘We’re a great team, but we’re not talented enough to turn it on and off whenever we want to,'” Carter said. “So I’m hoping for UNC it’s not a trend that they think they can just turn it on, because they are not the team that can just turn it on. I hope it’s a little trip-up, not a trend.”