Hubert Davis is a man walking a fine line after his No. 6-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels were sent packing in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Tournament on Thursday. The No. 11-seeded VCU Rams came all the way back from 19 points down in the second half to upset the Tar Heels 82-78 in overtime.
Just minutes after the loss, reactions about Davis’ future as North Carolina’s head coach started hitting social media.
Sports World Reacts to Tar Heels HC Hubert Davis After North Carolina’s Collapse
For starters, Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, had a very succinct seven-word post on X: “Gotta fire Hubert Davis for the collapse.”
Gotta fire Hubert Davis for the collapse
Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) March 20, 2026
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Andrew Fillipponi, who talks about sports on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, also thinks Davis’ time with North Carolina should end soon. Fillipponi posted on X, “North Carolina needs to fire Hubert Davis.”
North Carolina needs to fire Hubert Davis.
Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) March 20, 2026
Yahoo Sports senior writer Dan Wolken posted a lengthy piece after watching North Carolina fritter away a 19-point lead to the Rams.
“Every moment of that meltdown should scream to North Carolina administrators that they don’t have the right guy in charge if the goal is to win a national championship,” Wolken wrote.
North Carolina led by 14 points with 6 1/2 minutes to go and lost. North Carolina’s collapse makes this the largest first-round comeback in NCAA Tournament history, Yahoo Sports staff writer Jason Owens wrote.
The Tar Heels scored their 70th point with 7:11 left in the second half. North Carolina just finished with 78 total points.
The Tar Heels had a two-point lead and the ball with 28 seconds left on the clock. But North Carolina committed a five-second violation on an inbounds play.
That led to VCU tying the game. With 11 seconds left to play, North Carolina had the ball to inbounds once again. Davis, though, called a timeout to set up a play.
It ended up being a play that didn’t work out at all, as Henri Veesaar got the ball out on the perimeter. But he wasn’t able to do anything with the ball and turned it over.
These types of miscues, along with Davis’ questionable coaching, all ended up being a disaster for North Carolina, a proud college basketball blueblood program.
Mark Blankenbaker of ESPN Louisville 680AM/105.7FM and 93.9FM The Ville just couldn’t get over how that game ended for the Tar Heels. Blankenbaker posted on X, “The way North Carolina lost that game is sickening. It should cost Hubert Davis his job. It was that disgusting.”
Graham Coffey, publisher and co-founder at Dawgs Central, pointed out that Davis is a good person, but preparation going into a big game matters a whole lot.
Coffey posted on X, “Hubert Davis is as good of a person as you’ll find in college sports … That said, you can’t be that unprepared for that many key scenarios on this visible of a stage this late in the season … Will be interesting see what happens next in Chapel Hill.”
Niko, whose account on X states that “I’m just here for basketball tweets, go away,” also posted his thoughts after watching Davis lead North Carolina to defeat: “Fire Hubert Davis TONIGHT.”
Pro Football Hall of Famer and “Nightcap” and “Club Shay Shay” host Shannon Sharpe didn’t hold back in his criticisms of Davis, either.
“H.Davis performed 1 of the worst coaching jobs. I’ve seen in a while,” Sharpe posted on X. “Hill Jr who has it going 2 play 1 on 1. Didn’t trap, blitz, 2 make him give the ball up. Losing early in ACC tourney, losing big lead. Going 2 be hard convincing alumni/president. He should remain as coach.”
Josina Anderson, a senior NFL insider and Emmy/NABJ-awarded journalist who is a North Carolina alum, definitely wasn’t happy with Davis’ performance on Thursday. Anderson posted on X, “If Carolina don’t move on from Hubert Davis so fast. Last straw. Unacceptable. -Alum.”
With the majority of opinions being negative toward Davis, all eyes will now turn to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to see if North Carolina does move along from him as the Tar Heels head coach.
