OMAHA, NEB. - Ten years ago, people were asking North Carolina coach Mike Fox why his team couldn't make it to the College World Series. Now, after exiting Rosenblatt Stadium without a national title for the third straight season, he's left with a new, more devastating, question: "Why can't you win it?"

"I'm not going to try to answer it in my own mind because I could drive myself crazy going, 'Why didn't we swing at that pitch? Why did the guys maybe not get that big hit?' " Fox said Monday morning, still puffy-eyed roughly 12 hours after his team was eliminated after losing 6-1 to Fresno State.

"... All we can do is keep trying to get back out here, and hope the stars align."

The last team to advance to the CWS four straight times was Texas, from 2002-05. And although that will be the goal for next season -- and perhaps an expectation -- it will take awhile for the Tar Heels to get over this loss.

Not just because they boasted their highest seed in the tournament (No. 2). Or because they had the nation's best ERA. Or because they had a huge edge in CWS experience.

But because of who they won't have helping them try to get back to Omaha.

Seniors Chad Flack, Rob Wooten, Seth Williams, Kyle Shelton, Tyler Trice and Mike Facchinei -- the final members of a recruiting class credited for pushing Carolina baseball into the "contender" echelon -- have used up their eligibility.

Several said they had "unfinished business" in Omaha this season. Which is why it wasn't surprising that Flack -- who whacked Super Regional homers in 2006 and 2007 to secure CWS berths, then hit another to keep his team from going home early on Saturday -- didn't appear to want to leave his seat in the dugout when the Bulldogs finished the game with a double play.

"You put so much into something, and when it ends, it's tough,'' he said, tears in his eyes.

In addition, junior catcher Tim Federowicz, who blasted a grand slam on Friday against LSU to keep UNC from being eliminated, was drafted in the seventh round and probably will sign a pro contract. Right fielder Tim Fedroff, also drafted in the seventh round, also may go pro. Eight members of UNC's incoming 10-man recruiting class were drafted; two -- outfielder L.J. Hoes and pitcher Jason Knapp -- already have signed pro contracts.

"It's going to be an interesting summer,'' Fox said. "...We're losing some pieces that have kind of connected the puzzle together, so to speak. We could lose all three of our outfielders, we're losing our third baseman, we lose our catcher."

The positive news: Fox expects junior pitcher Adam Warren, who was drafted in the 36th round, to return for his senior season. That means Carolina should have all of its weekend starters back, including ACC Pitcher of the Year Alex White and freshman All-America Matt Harvey.

They also return All-America Dustin Ackley, who likely will move from first base to the outfield next season; as well as second baseman Kyle Seager, shortstop Ryan Graepel and designated hitter Garrett Gore.

UNC will play in the newly-renovated Boshamer Stadium after a year of commuting to Cary's USA Baseball National Training Complex.

"We are losing some great seniors and great leaders, but the guys we've got coming back are pretty good themselves,'' said White, a sophomore. "We're looking forward [to trying to get back to the CWS]."

But the question is, what will it take to win it?

Fox isn't alone in facing that question. Former UNC basketball coach Dean Smith advanced to the Final Four six times (including three years in a row, from 1967-69) before winning his first national championship in 1982. Florida State coach Mike Martin, who took his 13th team to the CWS this season, still hasn't won a title.

"One of these years Coach Fox is going to be lucky, and he's going to win one of these dadgum things,'' Wooten, a senior reliever, said Monday. "It's not always the best team that wins; and I feel like these past three years we've been the best team, but we just haven't gotten it done."

But they'll still keep trying, Fox said. Just like a decade ago, when people kept asking when Carolina would take the next step.

"I know everybody wants to win a national championship; nobody wants to more than I do,'' said Fox, who also played on UNC's 1978 CWS team. "It's the freakiest kind of nature of the game ... swinging or not swinging, or a ball or a strike, can change a whole at-bat. That one pitch can make the difference in the game.

"If you try to analyze it or overanalyze it, you can drive yourself crazy. And I'm already crazy enough."