It has indeed. North Carolina has lost 13 games this season and if it can’t upset top-seeded Stanford (27-3) in a second-round game in the South Regional it won’t win 20 games for the first time since 1970, Charlie Scott’s senior year.

“We’re not used to this losing,” says Capel. “Our fans aren’t either. That’s why they’ve made this a tough year for us.

“But hopefully,” he adds, “they believe in us again now. Hopefully, they are proud of how we played Friday.”

No doubt, but they’ll be a lot prouder if the Heels (19-13) can beat mighty Stanford today. A win in that one, and the big blue bandwagon would be overflowing once again.

It won’t be easy. Stanford has an awful lot going for it.

It is, in fact, an awful lot like North Carolina and Duke, as much as any institution in the country.

The schools often fight over recruits. Duke beat Stanford for Trajan Langdon. Stanford beat the Tar Heels for Jaron Collins and Jason Collins, Stanford’s version of the twin towers, who also happen to literally be towering twins.

“People coming to Stanford have the best of the academic and athletic worlds,” says celebrated Cardinal freshman Casey Jacobsen. “Stanford is becoming something huge.”

When current Cardinal coach Mike Montgomery was getting started in the late ‘70s at Montana, he looked at Dean Smith’s North Carolina teams and decided that was the sort of approach he wanted to take.

“They impressed you,” said Montgomery. “They had the best students and also the best student-athletes. They were first class. They got off that airplane wearing ties.”

Montgomery has collared a group of recruits that can compete on any court and any classroom. His players remind everyone of Duke’s. Articulate and funny in the interview room. They are talented talkers, not just trash talkers. They talked more about finishing up quarterly exams this week than about finishing off South Carolina State on Friday with a school-record barrage of 13 3-pointers.

“Yeah, they all want to come in here and talk to the media,” shrugs Montgomery. “We have to make them take turns.”

“You guys sure you don’t have any more questions,” demands Jacobsen, a communications major. “I’m enjoying this.”

Jacobsen is a riot despite his youth. His father built a regulation court complete with lights and 3-point lines for him in the back yard in California. He took advantage.

Eighteen months ago, he was captaining the American World Youth games team that won a gold medal in Russia. One of his teammates was West Rowan’s Scooter Sherrill.

Jacobsen is a phenomenal shooter. He hit four 3-pointers on his way to a quick 18 points against S.C. State and like UNC’s Joseph Forte, has become his team’s scoring leader as a freshman.

Ask the 6-6 Jacobsen what he’ll be doing 10 years from now and he’s got a quick answer: “making a billion dollars a year in the NBA.”

Then there’s Mark “Mad Dog” Madsen, who has already scored 153 points in NCAA tourney games in his career. The senior is as much a veteran as any college player in the nation. He’s played on international teams with UNC’s Brendan Haywood and averages nearly a double-double.

Madsen is funny, too.

“We just hope we can give Carolina a game,” he says, grinning. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Also in double figures for the Cardinal most of the time are 6-10 Jarron Collins (11.1 ppg) and 6-4 wing shooter David Moseley. Point guard Michael McDonald, who says he’s “watched the Ed Cota quite a few times on TV,” mostly distributes the ball and plays tough defense.

There’s good depth in 6-7 Ryan Mendez, another terrific shooter, and another quality big guy in Jason Collins.

The Collins twins have overloads of personality, too. Jason wears an Afro, doesn’t pick up his clothes and doesn’t say all that much. Jarron, on the other hand, keeps his hair cut close, his room cleaned up and chatters constantly.

“We sure couldn’t be roommates,” said Jarron. “But on the court, we get along pretty good.”

Stanford can play as well as hold interesting conversations. It communicates pretty good with a basketball, too.

The Cardinal is 83-15 over the past three seasons and the veterans like Madsen were in the Final Four in 1998.

Stanford is 27-1 when it makes people shoot less than 50 percent and it makes most people shoot under 50. It held South Carolina State to 30 percent on Friday. The Cardinal plays great defense ordinarily. It’s held opponents to miserable 35 shooting this season, a record pace.

Stanford rebounds big-time. It has had the edge on the boards in 26 of its 30 games.

It has won 14 games this season by more than 20 points and comes in off a game in which it shot 13-for-23 on 3-pointers.

Still, this is far from an unwinnable game for the Tar Heels.

They’ve got the history. They beat Stanford early last season in the preseason NIT.

Yes, Stanford beat Duke in overtime this season (very early), but it also needed overtime to beat a so-so Georgia Tech team.

Most of all, Carolina has never lost to Stanford. Not ever. The Heels have won all eight previous meetings, including four wins over Montgomery-coached teams.

Tradition favors the Heels. But then again, tradition won’t mean all that much once they tip it off.

“We’ll be ready,” says Jacobsen. “We know we’ll have to be, because UNC looks very hungry. There’s some luck involved in all this, but the bottom line is that to keep advancing you have to beat good teams.”

Only, Stanford is facing a very good team a little sooner than it had expected.

“It’s funny,” said Cota. “When I was a freshman, we were 0-3 in the ACC and ended up in the Final Four. Maybe this team can do something like that. “We have the tools to beat Stanford. It would be satisfying the way people have been cutting us down all season.”

And don’t be shocked if the Heels are doing some net-cutting of their own before this tournament is over. Their rich tradition could include one more glory story after today.

Stanford would be tough to handle on Jeopardy, but athletically this is not a bad matchup for the Heels.