"It's not great": NCAA analyst drops reality check for Hubert Davis and UNC

College basketball analyst Randolph Childress delivered a reality check on North Carolina's campaign this season despite securing talent from the transfer portal, high school recruiting and the international scene.

Childress expects the Hubert Davis-coached Tar Heels to finish within the top four of the ACC regular season, consistently rank in the top 25 of the AP college basketball power rankings and win one or two games in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

The analyst pointed out that this season's Tar Heels are a complete makeover from last season and are comparable to what Virginia did with their roster.

"I think that's good enough to say, okay, not great, but it's good enough. It's not great," Childress told host Jon Rothstein in the Field of 68 After Dark Podcast which was posted on YouTube on Friday (Timestamp 18:49). "Like all of this is put 'They're like everyone else. We had to revamp it.' They're like Virginia."

Rothstein compared Hubert Davis' team to the programs that his predecessor, Roy Williams, ran in the past. He pointed out that the three-time NCAA champion played a run-and-gun style with bigs in tow, whereas it couldn't be the same with Davis' previous lineups.

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Jon Rothstein gives North Carolina a fair grade this offseason

CBS Sports' college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein gave a fair grade of C+ to North Carolina's preparations for the 2025-26 season.

Rothstein believes that Hubert Davis and the Tar Heels have made some questionable decisions in the past few years since reaching the 2022 national final in his first season as coach. However, he's optimistic about the team's offseason revamp and hopes that fans will see the old North Carolina back.

"I hope they win. We all like Hubert Davis," Rothstein said (19:50) It would be good if Carolina can get back to being the old Carolina, which is kind of knowing what to expect in in Chapel Hill every year, every game."

North Carolina will have two preseason games in October, against BYU (Oct. 24) and Winston-Salem State (Oct. 29), before opening its 2025-26 campaign against Central Arkansas on Nov. 3 at Dean E. Smith Center.

Following the Bears game, they host Big 12 powerhouse Kansas on Nov. 7 in the second installment of a home-and-home series.