ATLANTA — There’s no denying UNC was dismantled, discouraged, dismissed and generally dissed by Duke in Sunday’s ACC finals.

The big question now is are the Tar Heels ready to call it a season after their stunning 79-53 loss?

Four Sundays ago, the Heels were ranked No. 1 in the nation, riding the wave of an 18-game winning streak and rookie coach Matt Doherty was the toast of the nation.

Now, it’s Doherty’s team that might be toast.

Sure, the Heels are 25-6, but they’re only 4-4 in their last eight games and all four losses have been by double-digit margins. They lost by 10 at Clemson, by 20 at Virginia and were humbled twice by shocking scores against Duke.

The Heels played themselves right out of a certain NCAA tourney No. 1 seed with their late swoon and have been bracketed as a No. 2 in the South. Now they must play in New Orleans rather than Greensboro. And no one knows for sure if the Heels will be big or easy in the Big Easy.

A much testier than normal Doherty didn’t appreciate pointed inquiries demanding explanations for the Tar Heels’ sudden demise at Sunday’s postgame press conference.

“I mean, what’s your question?” Doherty shot back at one interrogator. “We were picked to finish third in this league and we won the league. Then we played in the ACC Tournament championship game. I’d say we did pretty well.”

One thing’s for sure, the Tar Heels are in superior position leaving the ACC Tournament than was last year’s squad, which stood 18-13 after a first-round loss to Wake Forest and was fortunate to be granted an invitation to join the NCAA field.

That 1999-2000 team — essentially the same guys as this year’s squad, plus point guard Ed Cota — wound up making a Cinderella run through the South Regional and into the Final Four.

“Last year at this time, we weren’t 100 percent sure we were even going to the NCAAs,” said Capel. “So we’re a lot better off this time.”

But will being “better off” translate into better performances when the Heels open NCAA play on Friday against No. 15 seed Princeton?

“Right now, it’s hard to think about all that,” said Capel in the aftermath of the loss to the Devils. “We’re all pretty down because we just lost a championship that we expected to win. But once we get back to the hotel, watch the selection show and find out where we’re going and who we’re going to play, we’ll get it going again.”

“It doesn’t matter if we’re 1, 2 or 3,” chimed in Tar Heel senior Brendan Haywood. “Last year, we were an 8.”

Turns out they’re a 2. The question is, will they play like one?