Taking a Look at UNC's Post-Title Seasons

As North Carolina begins defense of its 2017 national title Friday night vs. Northern Iowa, the Tar Heels may find history working against them.

Since the end of the UCLA consecutive title streak in 1974, only one team has won NCAA titles back-to-back, Duke in 1991 and 1992. Here is a look at the seasons after UNC's previous six national titles:

1924-25: 20-6 overall, 8-0 Southern Conference, Southern Conference tournament champions

The White Phantoms did not have the moniker of defending national champions because the Helms Foundation did not name the 1924 team as national champions until 1936. UNC had a brand new coach, Monk McDonald, who had just graduated after playing on the undefeated team the previous season, and lost the school's first basketball All-American, Cartwright Carmichael, to graduation. But the team returned its top player, fellow All-American Jack Cobb, and opened the season 8-0 before embarking on a stretch of eight straight games away from Chapel Hill. One portion of that road trip included a trip to the northeast where the Phantoms played five consecutive nights, losing four of the games. The team rebounded, however, and finished the season on a nine-game winning streak that included winning five games to take the Southern Conference tournament championship. With no national post-season tournament, Carolina was left to celebrate the second of three straight Southern Conference tournament titles and Cobb would be named an All-American again in 1925 and 1926, and was the 1926 national player of the year.

1957-58: 19-7 overall, 10-4 Atlantic Coast Conference, ACC tournament runner-up

Coming off an undefeated season in 1957, Frank McGuire's squad lost both Lennie Rosenbluth and Joe Quigg but opened the season 11-1 behind guards Pete Brennan and Tommy Kearns. The Tar Heels won the Dixie Classic, defeating NC State at Reynolds Coliseum. Carolina then finished tied for second in the ACC regular season with the Wolfpack, a game behind Duke. The Tar Heels entered the ACC Tournament as the 3rd seed and defeated Clemson before knocking off NC State in Raleigh for a 3rd time that season (the Pack won the one game at Woollen Gym) before falling in an upset to 4th-seeded Maryland in the final game. In the days where only the tournament champion went to the NCAA tournament, the Tar Heels stayed home for the postseason.

1982-83: 28-8 overall, 12-2 Atlantic Coast Conference, ACC tournament semifinals

The Tar Heels stumbled out of the gate in the 1982-83 season, dropping a tip-off classic game at Springfield, Mass. to St. John's and losing to Missouri in St. Louis, and needed a Michael Jordan buzzer beater and three overtimes to get past Tulane. UNC would lose at Tulsa in early December to fall to 3-3 while adjusting to life without James Worthy and Jimmy Black. It took a while for freshman Steve Hale to grow into his point guard duties but it helped having Jordan and Sam Perkins to get the ball to. After the initial struggles, Carolina reeled off 18 straight wins and took the ACC regular-season crown over Ralph Sampson and Virginia, including an epic game in which UNC trailed the Cavaliers by 10 with four minutes to play before Jordan saved the day again with steal and slam for the go ahead points in the last few seconds. But in the ACC Tournament, the Tar Heels were upset by NC State, who was just beginning their storybook Cinderella run to the NCAA title. UNC received the #2 seed in the NCAA East Regional before being upset by Georgia in the Elite Eight. Perkins and Jordan would be named All-Americans.

1993-94: 28-7 overall, 11-5 Atlantic Coast Conference, ACC tournament champions

The 1993-94 season started with a lot of promise as four starters returned from the national title team, including Final Four MOP Donald Williams, and two impact freshmen, Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse, joined the roster. Carolina raced out to a 12-1 start with the only setback being an overtime loss to top-5 UMass in the Preseason NIT. The Tar Heels fell off somewhat in conference play, finishing 11-5 and in 2nd place behind Duke despite sweeping the Blue Devils in the regular season. Carolina put it all together in the ACC Tournament in Charlotte, however, including an incredible semifinal comeback against Wake Forest where UNC was down five with a minute to play before winning in overtime. UNC then defeated Virginia to take the crown and earn a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. But Carolina was never able to find the magic of the year before and poor outside shooting, the team's weakness all year long, eventually tripped the Heels up in a second-round NCAA loss to Boston College, thus ending a streak of making the Sweet 16 that dated back to 1980.

2005-06: 23-8 overall, 12-4 Atlantic Coast Conference, ACC tournament semfinals

It hadn't taken Roy Williams long to restore UNC to prominence after the uneven Matt Doherty era, winning his first national title in 2005. But after losing pretty much the entire championship team to either graduation or the NBA draft lottery, expectations for the 2005-06 edition of the Tar Heels were pretty low.  Carolina instead jelled together as a team much more quickly and effectively than anyone could have anticipated. Senior David Noel earned a spot in Tar Heel lore for his leadership and breakout play, and a freshman named Tyler Hansbrough began his UNC career with a bang, including an ACC-record 40 points in a win against Georgia Tech and the first of what would be four straight wins in Cameron Indoor over Duke. Carolina finished the regular season as the second-place team in the ACC but fell in the ACC tournament semifinals to Boston College, who was ranked #11 nationally. UNC received the #3 seed in the Washington (East) region of the NCAA tournament but fell in the second round to Jim Larranaga and George Mason, who would make it all the way to the Final Four that year.

2009-10: 20-17 overall, 5-11 Atlantic Coast Conference, ACC tournament first round

If the 2006 Tar Heels were the feel-good story of post-title seasons, the 2009-10 Carolina team was the reality show train wreck of post-title seasons. Senior Deon Thompson returned as the only starter from the 2009 team, and fellow senior Marcus Ginyard was back after redshirting in 2009 due to injury. The 100th season of UNC basketball started well enough as the team opened 11-3 and climbed to a #9 national ranking, with losses to Syracuse in New York City, to Texas in Arlington, and at Kentucky. But once the calendar turned to 2010, the wheels fell off for the Heels. The first game of the new year was an overtime loss at home against Charleston, and after what seemed to be a bounce back win against Virginia Tech, Carolina then went into a tailspin. UNC lost 10 of its next 12 games, with only a pair of wins against NC State stopping the bleeding. The team couldn't shoot, the backcourt devolved into mess, and a wretched ACC season ended with a thud as Duke put an emphatic end to Carolina's Cameron winning streak with a 32-point drubbing. After a loss to Georgia Tech in the first round of the ACC tournament, UNC was 16-16 (after starting 11-3) and reluctantly accepted an NIT bid. NIT games are played on campus and renovations to the Smith Center meant Carolina hosted its first round NIT game at Carmichael Auditorium. The Heels pieced together four wins in the NIT, including road wins at Mississippi State and UAB. UNC defeated Rhode Island in overtime in the NIT semifinals in New York City, but Dayton ended the idea of a NCAA/NIT championship double-dip as the Flyers downed the Tar Heels in the title game.