SAN ANTONIO - North Carolina's Tar Heels should have stayed in Charlotte -- where they actually looked like a legitimate basketball team in winning the East Regional -- and Davidson should have represented the state in this NCAA Final Four.

That way, maybe there would have been something worth watching in Saturday's national semifinals in the Alamodome. Carolina certainly wasn't.

In a game that will long be remembered as a low point in the school's rich basketball history, Roy Williams' team brought less than nothing to an encounter against Kansas that most of the nation's fans expected to be a classic.

By doing little more than staying awake while Carolina slept, and by executing Basketball 101, the Jayhawks won 84-66.

Funny thing was, North Carolina more or less had an opportunity to win the game. Kansas seemed to lose interest about midway through the second half, and a lead that was 44-27 at intermission slipped to 54-50.

At that point, Bill Self's team regained its focus, and Williams' team reverted to its lack thereof, and it wasn't long before the game went back to being the blowout it was in the beginning.

Carolina's effort was so dreadful that it made UCLA appear decent during its 78-63 drubbing by Memphis in the first game. At least the Bruins went into halftime with some hope of victory. The Heels went to halftime trying to find a way out of the building with their jerseys still on their backs.

The quick Tigers (38-1) will meet Kansas (36-3) in Monday's title game at approximately 9:20 p.m. Eastern time.

By then, Carolina should be out of the intensive care unit.

The Tar Heels' otherwise glorious season literally ended before they could break a decent sweat against Kansas in the nightcap.

In one of the biggest Final Four flameouts in Carolina history, the Tar Heels stumbled from the opening tip.

You name it and Carolina couldn't do it -- offense, defense, rebounding, coaching, dribbling, passing, screening. Worse, the Tar Heels didn't seem to know how to fix the problems, or even show that much interest in trying.

Considering Carolina's flamboyant flop, it's a wonder fans in the Alamodome didn't demand a refund on tickets that were selling for more than $500 mid-afternoon on Saturday.

What this means for Carolina's program is difficult to say.

For sure, the Tar Heels were not ready to play in what shaped up to be one of the biggest games in school history. That fault lies squarely with Williams, who apparently did not see the Kansas onslaught coming. His team was better prepared to play against Virginia Tech or Penn.

And Tyler Hansbrough, who now has to make a decision about whether to leave school early for the NBA or take one more shot at an NCAA title, was roundly outplayed by a Jayhawks frontcourt that beat him at his own game of hustle and intensity.

Carolina's talented guards -- Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington -- got chopped up to the extent that they might as well have been fishbait. Ellington's 18 points were probably the least significant 18 in Final Four history.

Should all of Carolina's underclassmen return, the Heels will be the obvious favorite to win the ACC title in 2009. But in view of Saturday's debacle and the league's overall poor showing in the NCAA Tournament, being No. 1 in the ACC may not amount to much nationally.

What the Heels brought to the Alamodome was every bit that unimpressive. There was a lot to play for, but the Tar Heels didn't seem to realize it until it was way too late.