Since the 1985 NCAA tournament (the first year of the 64-team field, 26 years ago as of this writing), the North Carolina Tar Heels have achieved a mean win percentage of 0.77 (2.63 wins to 0.78 losses, N = 72 games). This equals an Elite 8 appearance (rounding down, see Table 1). In that period they have won the championship three times, lost their opening game once, failed to qualify three times, and changed head coach three times. See Table 2 for the complete data set.
Table 1: Possible NCAA tournament performances, 64-team field.
| Wins | Losses | Percentage | Interpretation |
| 0 | 0 | 0.00 | Did not qualify |
| 0 | 1 | 0.00 | One and out |
| 1 | 1 | 0.50 | Round of 32 |
| 2 | 1 | 0.67 | Sweet 16 |
| 3 | 1 | 0.75 | Elite 8 |
| 4 | 1 | 0.80 | Final 4 |
| 5 | 1 | 0.83 | Title game |
| 6 | 0 | 1.00 | Championship |
Table 2: Tar Heels tournament performance since 1985.
| Year | Wins | Losses | Coach |
| 2011 | 3 | 1 | Williams |
| 2010 | 0 | 0 | Williams |
| 2009 | 6 | 0 | Williams |
| 2008 | 4 | 1 | Williams |
| 2007 | 3 | 1 | Williams |
| 2006 | 1 | 1 | Williams |
| 2005 | 6 | 0 | Williams |
| 2004 | 1 | 1 | Williams |
| 2003 | 0 | 0 | Doherty |
| 2002 | 0 | 0 | Doherty |
| 2001 | 1 | 1 | Doherty |
| 2000 | 4 | 1 | Guthridge |
| 1999 | 0 | 1 | Guthridge |
| 1998 | 4 | 1 | Guthridge |
| 1997 | 4 | 1 | Smith |
| 1996 | 1 | 1 | Smith |
| 1995 | 4 | 1 | Smith |
| 1994 | 1 | 1 | Smith |
| 1993 | 6 | 0 | Smith |
| 1992 | 3 | 1 | Smith |
| 1991 | 4 | 1 | Smith |
| 1990 | 2 | 1 | Smith |
| 1989 | 2 | 1 | Smith |
| 1988 | 3 | 1 | Smith |
| 1987 | 3 | 1 | Smith |
| 1986 | 2 | 1 | Smith |
| 1985 | 3 | 1 | Smith |
| Mean | 2.63 | 0.78 |