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North Carolina elects to skip the 2023 NIT

On3 imageby:Sam Gillenwater•03/12/23•

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North Carolina
Grant Halverson | Getty Images

North Carolina didn’t do much to help themselves when it came to their NCAA Tournament resume. While they finished as the third team out of the field, it felt like the Tar Heels were much further than that at times, specifically considering they finished 1-9 in Quad 1 opportunities.

However, with the postseason still on the table for UNC in the NIT, the program has announced that they’ll pass on participating in it. In a statement they released from Hubert Davis, it says that ‘now is the time to focus on moving ahead’.

By not making the NCAA Tournament field this evening, the cherry on top of North Carolina’s at-times disastrous season was placed as they officially became the first preseason No. 1 team to not make it into the field of 68.

However, it seems the program as a whole would rather wash its hands of this season rather than continue it in a tournament like the NIT. Now, with this decision made, UNC will officially end their year at 20-13 and look to the offseason with a ton of reflection now necessary in Chapel Hill.

LOOK: CBS’ Seth Davis breaks down ‘First Four Out’ snubs

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This year, the last four teams in the tournament were Mississippi State, Pitt, Arizona State, and Nevada. The “first four out” distinction went to Oklahoma State, Rutgers, North Carolina, and Clemson.

“I had Rutgers in the field, but they had four Quad 3 losses so that’s why they were out,” explained Davis. “Oklahoma State is the one team that got victimized the most by being in the Big 12. They have a lot of Quad 1 wins but too many losses there.

“And how about North Carolina? They were the third team out, everybody had kind of buried them. They lost by one point to Pittsburgh and they lost in quadruple overtime to Alabama — the number one overall seed — all the way back in November. People say those games don’t count. Carolina wins that game, they are in the NCAA Tournament. That’s how close it is.

“I just want to say, to be fair, if I’m putting a team in? I have to take a team out. And I had NC State out. I certainly have no huge argument with them being in, but they only had one Quad 1 win. I didn’t think that was enough, the committee obviously disagreed.”