When the season started in September, North Carolina's visit to Notre Dame was looked at as a potential big game.

That still holds true, but just for one team. While the No. 11 Fighting Irish have held up their end of the bargain, going 6-1, the Tar Heels started the season as a Top 10 team but quickly identified themselves as a pretender instead of a contender.

At 4-3 with losses to three sub-.500 teams in Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and Florida State, North Carolina qualifies under any objective measure as one of the nation's biggest disappointments.