ATLANTA — Sunday night’s 20-point loss to Georgia Tech just minutes old, someone asked North Carolina sophomore forward John Henson if the defeat felt anything like last season, when the Tar Heels lost 17 games and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003.
“No,” he said defiantly. “This was one game. We’re over last year. Last year was last year.”
Last year was a lost year for four of college basketball’s most storied programs, including the then-defending national champion Tar Heels. Despite owning a combined 23 national titles, UNC, Connecticut, Indiana and UCLA all failed to make the NCAA tourney field.
Not since 1966 had all four missed March Madness in the same season.
Not all of last year’s “Forlorn Four” are likely to miss it again this year. With Monday’s two-point victory over No. 7 Villanova, UConn may actually be in the hunt for a No. 1 seed, its 15-2 record and No. 8 ranking a certain sign that the Huskies are has-beens no more.