North Carolina played in last season’s national title game down in Houston. Then the Tar Heels lost two starters who double as former All-Americans -- namely Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige -- and added zero newcomers who are averaging more than 15.0 minutes per game this season.

And now UNC is better?

Answer: Perhaps.

And, either way, the Tar Heels sure looked it Saturday night while cruising to a 65-41 -- 65-41! -- victory over a spiraling Virginia team inside the Dean Smith Center. Virginia entered ranked third at KenPom; the Cavaliers exited with a 24-point loss after missing 18 of the 20 3-pointers they attempted while shooting just 27.8 percent from the field. So now North Carolina is 23-5 overall, 11-3 in the ACC and alone atop the league standings. And is Roy Williams proving his Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame induction is legit or is Roy Williams proving his Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame induction is legit? The 66-year-old two-time national champion has operated under an NCAA cloud for what feels like forever. And it’s undeniably affected recruiting. But it hasn’t damaged the on-the-court product.

UNC was great last season.

UNC is great again this season.

For what it’s worth, this time last year, the Tar Heels were ranked eighth at KenPom. Now they’re ranked sixth, in possession of nine top-50 RPI wins and currently projected, by KenPom, to take at least a share of their eighth ACC regular-season title in the past 13 seasons. That’s strong, strong, strong. And Williams really does deserve some credit. Because what he’s doing isn’t easy to do.

An 11-3 record in this ACC?

That’s ridiculous.

But that’s what he has thanks, in part, to Justin Jackson’s 20 points on 14 shots -- and Kennedy Meeks’ 13-point, seven-rebound effort in 25 minutes -- against Virginia. Truth is, North Carolina basically handled things from start to finish vs. Tony Bennett’s team that’s lost three straight games and dropped to 8-6 in the ACC. Consequently, the Tar Heels and their fifth-best RPI in the nation are totally in play for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Yes, the loss at Georgia Tech hurts.

And that loss at Indiana gets worse by the day.

But just about everything else seems impressive.

So doubt UNC if you want. But, odds are, the Tar Heels are going to be a factor going forward and deep into the NCAA Tournament. Maybe someday the cloud of the NCAA investigation will damage them on the court. But that day wasn’t Saturday.

That day hasn’t shown itself yet.