The biggest bust in sports history isn't what you think

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     March 10, 2023 Happy Friday. This is Jacob Rosenberg, an associate editor here at Mother Jones and, more so than anything else in my life, a fan of UNC-Chapel Hill's basketball team. I want to briefly explain the grief I'm experiencing right now. On Thursday evening, Virginia—with its [irritating, effective defense,]( drilled by their [clean-cut]( head coach Tony Bennett (that nerd!)—knocked UNC out of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. It all but sealed our fate: UNC will not make the NCAA tournament this year. UNC began the season ranked as the best college basketball team in the country. Now, we exit into a purgatory worse than hell—we might have to play in the [National Invitation Tournament](. (The NIT is a [tournament]( for teams that don't make the real one; no one watches and it's one of the few cases where winning something means you're a loser.) This is embarrassing: The Tar Heels will be the first team ranked top in the pre-season to not make the tournament since it expanded to 64 teams in 1985. It is being called one of the "[biggest busts in sports history](." I have responded to this poorly. Last night, when my mom (who went to Duke) innocuously texted to ask me and my dad, who both went to UNC) if this meant we were out of March Madness, I responded by violating one of the 10 commandments—flagrantly. Mom, sorry about that. I thought you were trying to talk trash. Still, it's frustrating in two ways. One is obvious. I love UNC and want them to win. The second is a story about "the media." (Shut up I know I am flailing for an excuse, just hang with me.) My friend Ray and I said this repeatedly as the season began: No one who watched UNC closely last year thought we should be ranked so high. UNC made a deep run in the tournament in 2022 to the national title game. We lost. And then this year—in part because college players can now [take money for sponsorship deals](—UNC returned almost all of its key starters. Still, anyone who had to endure UNC's regular season form knew the truth. It was brutal. Last season, our first year under new coach Hubert Davis, the team switched from an offense obsessed with rebounding and fast breaks into one more attuned to a half-court approach, with a special emphasis on three-pointers (that our guys could miss with real verve). We got hot at the end of last season. We did well in the tournament. But we, truly, were not that good. No UNC fan I know is that surprised by our failures. And so this was not the "biggest bust." It could be foreseen. In many ways, [we were not owned]( at all. Other people expected too much of us. As we go into the NCAA tournament next week, and you fill out your bracket, I think there is a lesson we can all learn from my anger: Sports media predictions of who is good should be treated with the level of skepticism Noam Chomsky has for a New York Times report on [American's pursuits at an empire](. Do not trust their analysis. Do not trust their breezy documentation. Do not trust their breakdowns. If I sound like I'm speaking from an erratic place of heartbreak, so be it. But I know the truth. When it comes to college basketball, you can't trust them. Otherwise, the media is good, journalism is important, and please [donate to allow us to keep doing rigorous work here]( at Mother Jones. Sorry I got all upset. —Jacob Rosenberg Advertisement [House Store Ad]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Joe Biden’s New Tax Plan Is Ambitious—and Wildly Optimistic]( If you think Republicans will go along, I've got an NFT to sell you. 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