Armando Bacot Admits 'Pressure' Has Gotten To North Carolina Amid Its Disappointing Season

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North Carolina entered the 2022 college basketball season ranked No. 1 in the country. To say the Tar Heels haven't lived up to the hype this season may be the understatement of the century in the sports world.

With its loss to Duke this weekend, North Carolina finished the regular season with a 19-12 record and an 11-9 mark in the ACC. Instead of winning the ACC regular season title, the Heels finished seventh in the standings are very much on the outside looking in when it comes to making it into the NCAA Tournament.

Armando Bacot, the leader of this Tar Heels team, spoke about the hype surrounding them heading into the season. To Baycot's credit, he gave an honest answer about pressure getting the best of them.

“It has definitely been difficult because there were so many expectations placed on us,” Bacot told reporters. 

“But at the end of the day, we are still college students; the pressure can get to everybody, we are human. I would definitely say (the noise) somewhat got into our locker room.”

North Carolina star Armando Bacot admits that pressure has gotten to the Heels this season. (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images)

Bacot's point about the Tar Heels simply being a team of college students sometimes gets lost. Many look at the blueblood teams in college athletics and forget that the majority of the roster is made up of teenagers.

North Carolina will need to make a run in this week's ACC Tournament to get into the Big Dance. The Heels will take on the winner of Boston College and Louisville in their first game of the tournament.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.