I'm pretty sure when most fans were making their mental lists of "What Can Keep UNC From Going Undefeated?" losses at home did not often make an appearance. And I know Boston College, they of the 4-12 2007 conference record, wasn't often considered. And yet here we are, with a team that now exists beyond Tyrese Rice, and UNC's flawless season now pretty flawed.
The defensive performance was fine, comparable to the Maui invitational final against Notre Dame. The offense at times though, was, well, offensive. The perimeter game continued to unimpress - UNC hasn't hit more than a third of their three-point shots since Evansville, and if a team can keep the rest of the shots from falling as the Eagles did, the Heels aren't going to win wherever they are.
So what does this mean for Carolina? Obviously disaster, with a 1995 Duke-like winless conference season, mass firings of the coaching staff, collapse of the Dean Dome and a zombie apocalypse. Or a necessary wake-up call for a team that hasn't had to buckle down this season and a third-place ranking. But I'd still prepare for a zombie infestation, just in case. UNC gets a tune-up game against Charleston to work the kinks out before a trip to undefeated Wake Forest. The learning curve gets steeper from here on out, and it's disappointing that the Heels aren't further along than we all thought; now that the weaknesses have been exposed, perhaps the team can get to work on fixing them.