Enter the 2016-17 season.
North Carolina believed that they were capable of getting back to the Final Four; let alone winning a national championship.
Although a few key players graduated, the bulk of last year’s runner-up team came back this season. The coaching staff has not changed.
The only slight change was a little more detail to the basketball jerseys.
The Tar Heels were a preseason top 10 team.
The preseason favorites to win the national championship were Villanova, Kansas and Duke. None of these teams are in the 2017 Final Four. However, North Carolina is.