UNC basketball, 2009-2010 addition

I've seen UNC play most of its games this year, and so far I've been excited with how this group has played. They are young, VERY young. If you told me that we would be 10-3 at this point, I'd probably be expecting that.

A list of our key players by class:

Seniors:

Marcus Ginyard. The current version of the Secretary of Defense. He can play, and now he can hit the 3 pointer. Great leader, steady player. Good ball handler.

Deon Thompson. Whose our leading scorer? It's Deon. He's also our 2nd leading rebounder. He can be a turnover machine, but overall a solid player.

Juniors:

Will Graves. Will's 3 point shooting % (38%) is a little better than his field goal % (37.4%). He can be an assassin from outside. Defense is suspect but improving. Can also be lost during the game, but Roy seems to motivate him better this year. He's also a good rebounder.

Sophomores:

Tyler Zeller. He's a finesse player, much in the line of Kris Lang. He has a good shooting touch, and he can provide some good D, too.

Ed Davis. He's a scorer from inside, a great rebounder. His ball handling/dribbling ability is a weakness. Ed's getting to the line a lot this year, so he should be our top scorer by the end of the season.

Larry Drew II. He's filling some big shoes by replacing Tywon Lawson, but he's doing a great job. His ball handling ability is fine, he can hit the open shooter, and his shooting ability, especially at the 3 point area, has improved immensely. His D is solid.

Justin Watts. Justin will probably see his time dwindle as the Heels get into ACC play, but he can shoot. His D is suspect, and so is his ball handling.

Freshmen:

David Wear. He's a role player, giving the Heels some rebounding, some solid D, and some 3 point shooting. He's going to be a fine player.

Travis Wear. I don't believe Travis is as flashy as his brother, but he can do everything his brother does, and he may be a tad more consistent.

John Henson. This guy is a legitimate shot blocker. He can rebound, he can shoot, and he's a decent ball handler. I'd like to see him be more assertive on Offense, but he's still learning the game.

Dexter Strickland. I like this fellow's poise. He can turn the ball over, but he is a freshman who can make freshman mistakes. He may be our most dependable freshman this year.

Leslie McDonald. Leslie has shown me that he can play, and he doesn't turn the ball over a lot, but he needs to be more assertive in the game. He's played 68 minutes so far this year, and he has 8 assists and only 5 turnovers. I hope he can play some point in the future.

UNC Football...how did we do in 2009?

I'm sorry I didn't blog about UNC football after October. I wanted to keep things positive, but our Offense was horrible for a long stretch. The only thing I can say is that it got better.

How I grade each game in 2009.

UNC 40, The Citadel 6. We played good enough to win, but we could have done even better. Grade: B.

UNC 12, UCONN 10. UCONN is not a pushover, but our offense was not clicking until the 4th Quarter. Defense was superb. Grade: C+.

UNC 31, East Carolina 17. Can't knock the Heels in this game. ECU had a great season. Grade: A-

GT 24, UNC 7. GT was a good, if not great team. They dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides. UNC's offense was inept, and our Defense was just tuckered out. Grade: C

UVA 16, UNC 3. This was the ugliest game I've seen in the Butch Davis era. Offense was HORRIBLE. The D did a good job until the 4th quarter, when again, they were tuckered out. Grade: D

UNC 42, Georgia Southern 12. UNC played a great 1st half, dominated the game on Defense. Offense for the entire game was sputtering. Grade: B-

FSU 30, UNC 27. UNC played with a lot of heart, especially on Offense. The Offense may have outplayed the Defense in this game. FSU was also playing with a lot of heart. Grade: B.

UNC 20, VT 17. VT was not a great team this year, but they were probably the 3rd or 4th best team we played. Great poise on Offense, great execution on Defense. Grade: A.

UNC 19, Duke 6. UNC's defense was the key in this game, along with the rushing of Ryan Houston. Duke's Thaddeus Lewis was off his game because of UNC's D. Grade: B+.

UNC 33, Miami 24. UNC's defense was definitely "Bend but don't break". Miami moved the ball well, but they kept on serving up some big interceptions. UNC's offense looked good enough to not disappoint. Grade: A-.

UNC 31, BC 13. The score wasn't indicative of how the game was played. UNC won by 3 scores, but the game was sloppy, especially on Offense with 3 picks thrown by TJ Yates. Defense was solid. Grade: B.

NCSU 28, UNC 27. UNC played a great 1st quarter, played okay in the 2nd quarter, and then played a bad 2nd half. Give credit to NCSU for playing hard. Grade: C-.

Pitt 19, UNC 17. UNC's Defense played good for much of the game. Pitt's running backs are great, and their QB is too, but UNC's Defense played well enough to win. Unfortunately, our Offense was mediocre at best. Grade: B-.

Grades for the year for positions:

QB: Yates played hard, but made some bad decisions throughout the year. He had an inexperienced receivers corps, and the Offense line was injured for over 1/2 of the season. He did come thru for a 4 game stretch. Grade: C.

Offensive Line: I think the injuries really hurt the line this year. Not a good season, but they gained a lot of experience during the year. Grade: C-.

Wide Recivers/Tight End: Little was the best, with Pianalto a close 2nd. Unfortunately, they were the only ones that were dependable. Grade: C.

Running Backs: Injuries, injuries. We could be much better if Draughn didn't get hurt. Houston was a stud. We should be good coming into next season. Grade: B-.

Defensive Line: Solid line, good pash rush. Thought we have the makings of a contender with this group. Running Defense was a bit suspect. Grade: B.

Linebackers: Good group, lots of depth, great talent. Had to help out the secondary more which probably opened up the running game for opposing teams. Grade: A-.

Secondary: Great at times, making some spectacular plays. However, as the season went by more teams were able to throw the ball on them. Grade: B.

Heel Fever Top 25, October 12, 2009 addition

And without further ado...

1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Virginia Tech
5. USC
6. Ohio State
7. Boise State
8. TCU
9. LSU
10. Iowa
11. Miami
12. Cincinnati
13. Penn State
14. Oregon
15. Nebraska
16. Oklahoma State
17. Kansas
18. Georgia Tech
19. BYU
20. South Carolina
21. South Florida
22. Oklahoma
23. Houston
24. Notre Dame
25. Utah

UNC 42, Georgia Southern 12

We should all thank the UNC D for coming up big against Georgia Southern. The D scored 2 TD's, and they basically placed our Offense in a position to score 2 more. The D only gave up 1 TD (I blame our O for the field goal and special teams/O for the safety).

Our Offensive is still weak and ineffective. We should have passed the ball more. Our running game showed some life, but we are talking about Georgia Southern. I think UNC's offensive line played a decent game in spite of the opponent, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

We are 4-2, but if we don't improve a lot, we are staring at a 4-8 record. FSU is weak, but they are still FSU. VT is dominant. Miami is a power too. BC can play decent at times, and so can NC State. Duke is looking to beat a weak UNC team, and they have the horses to do so.

UVA 16, UNC 3

I didn't want to post any comments last week regarding the UVA debacle. UNC lost to a horrible team. No offense equates to having our D on the field too long. I expect our D to play 30+ minutes, but they can't be on the field for 40 minutes a game.

Defensively, UNC looked up to par. We have a lot of talent, and this experience will pay dividends as this year goes by and for additional years. We don't have a lot of Seniors playing, so a lot of character is being developed. Our D deserves respect.

Our O is as bad as it comes in Division I. If there are 119 Division I teams, I imagine that 115 are better than ours. We can't run the ball, and we can't throw the ball. Our blocking is dismal, and our team concept is lacking.

Special teams are mediocre at best. Kicking is lacking, and our punter is really in the wrong division in college football.

Long season is ahead for the Heels.

UNC vs. UVA...revenge factor?

UNC must beat UVA on Saturday. UVA must beat UNC on Saturday. Both teams are having a hard season (UNC hasn't been impressive in any games, and UVA hasn't WON a game). If UVA loses, the moving vans may be parked on Groh's front yard when he comes back home.

I've got a bad feeling about this game. Groh is a magician, and whenever his back is against the wall, his team finds a way to respond. I just don't believe UVA has enough talent to hang with UNC for the entire game.

I expect UNC to get off to another slow start. UVA will have their confidence grow, but will have little to show for it. Expect a 10-7 score by halftime (with UNC or UVA leading).

In the third quarter, UVA will start to fade away. They don't have the depth to hang with UNC. Our offensive line won't be bullied like they were against GT or UConn. We will score at least one TD in the third quarter. We should add another in the 4th quarter. Throw in a field goal, and we will see a UNC victory. UVA will probably score again, but it will be too late.

Final Score, UNC 27, UVA 17.

Week 4 HEEL FEVER Top 25

To preface my comments, I've excluded UNC from the Top 25. They won't be in the Top 25 until they get a quality win. And no, UVA and Georgia Southern are not quality wins.

1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. LSU
5. Boise State
6. Oklahoma
7. USC
8. Virginia Tech
9. TCU
10. Ohio State
11. Cincinnati
12. Oklahoma State
13. Kansas
14. Iowa
15. Penn State
16. Oregon
17. Mississipi
18. California
19. BYU
20. Houston
21. Michigan
22. Miami
23. Georgia Tech
24. Nebraska
25. Georgia

Honorable Mentions goes to South Carolina, Auburn, South Florida, and Missouri

GT 24, UNC 7

UGH!

GT dominated the game on both sides, killing our D, and making our O look pathetic. I didn't see much to be proud of, but at least we can move on.

Regarding our Offense, we need to EXECUTE. Our offensive line is not strong at all. Our running game depends on the Offensive Line, which means that our running game is stagnant. Our passing game depends on a veteran QB to hit his inexperienced receivers. We have problems.

Our Defense gave up 400+ yards, but GT had the ball for over 40 minutes. A defense cannot be efficient if they are on the field for 40+ minutes. After a while our Defense looked horrible. However I'm not downing our D, I'm more disappointed with our O.

On the bright side, our punter did look remarkably better. Our kicker let us down (again) on a chip shot. If things don't start picking up, we may be heading towards a 6-6 season.

Big test this weekend

UNC looked okay against the Pirates, but we still have some areas we need to concentrate on.

1. Offensive Line. Injuries are part of the game, but an injury to a starter is an opportunity for a second-stringer. Need to make the most of these opportunities. I think UNC will need a more efficient running game this week to win against the Yellow Jackets.
2. Special teams. I'm not too impressed with our kicking or our punting. We need to make a more concerted effort to execute in this area of play. Look for some solid performances from both our kicker/punter and our special teams in the future.
3. Trick plays. We are okay, but we need to be more consistent on the trickery we might see from the Yellow Jackets. We got burned a couple of times against ECU.

So this is how I see the game playing out:

GT gets the ball first, drives to about their 45 yard line, and punts. We get the ball, can't do anything with it, and punt it back. Back and forth in the first quarter. At the end of the first, I see GT 3, UNC 0.

In the 2nd quarter, we get our passing game going, hit a couple of key receivers, and score when it counts. At Halftime, UNC 14, GT 10.

Third quarter comes, and GT starts to crumble. We score on our 2nd series, GT coughs the ball up, and we score again. End of 3rd quarter, UNC 24, GT 10.

GT makes a huge play, and scores a TD, UNC responds with a field goal. GT starts getting fatigued on D, so they try to run the ball even more. UNC holds, and wins.

Prediction: UNC 27, GT 17.

September 21, 2009 Heel Fever Poll

1. Florida (1). Rocky Top came to play, but it ended up as a Gator's day...
2. Alabama (3). Alabama has returned to greatness. Will Saban win a National Championship this year?
3. Texas (4). Mack Brown has the pride of the Big 12.
4. Penn State (5). Joe Pa is not ready to hang it up until he captures his 3rd national championship.
5. Mississippi (6). The 3rd best team in the SEC, the fifth best team in the nation.
6. California (7). Strong program. Rose Bowl bound?
7. LSU (8). It's another testiment that 4 of the best 7 schools are in the SEC.
8. Oklahoma (9). Boomer Sooner!
9. Boise State (10). It's all about the blue field! And a great team.
10. TCU (11). The Horned Frogs are a National team...get used to them!
11. Southern Cal (2). Losing to Washington? Blows me away...
12. Virginia Tech (14). Beating Nebraska is no small feat.
13. Ohio State (13). Tough team, but not a National Power.
14. Cincinnati (19). The Bearcats are no longer just a basketball school.
15. Miami Fl (25). The Hurricanes are a rockin in 2009.
16. Oklahoma St (16). The Cowboys need some D. They have plenty of O.
17. UNC (20). The Heels had an impressive victory against ECU.
18. Georgia (21). A team I can't figure out...
19. Kansas (24). Another basketball school showing that they can play on the gridiron.
20. FSU (NR). Are the Seminoles back?
21. Oregon (23). The Ducks will be a force as the season goes on.
22. Nebraska (17). No shame in losing a one pointer to the Hokies on the road.
23. Michigan (NR). Are the Wolverines willing to forget last year's foes?
24. Georgia Tech (15). Ugly loss to Miami.
25. Houston (NR). Let's see how Houston does the rest of the season.

Honorable mentions include Utah, Missouri, Auburn, Pittsburgh, Washington and Notre Dame.

1. BYU (12) FSU did nothing but destroy their hopes for a perfect season.

September 14, 2009 HEEL FEVER TOP 25 rankings

My latest edition. Once again, there will be several differences with the major polls. I like mine better. Last week's rankings are included.

1. Florida (1). Another game, another blowout.
2. Southern Cal (2). Good quality victory over the Bucs.
3. Alabama (3). ROLL TIDE!
4. Texas (5). A victory over the Wyoming Cowboys had some irky moments, but Texas has the talent to win the Big 12.
5. Penn State (6). Joe Pa is ready for another championship. This may be his year.
6. Mississippi (7). Tough team...I'm wondering how they will play in the SEC.
7. California (8). Great team, the pride of the PAC-10.
8. LSU (10). Any question that the SEC is the best conference? Or is it the Big 12?
9. Oklahoma (11). Don't dismiss Oklahoma because of the BYU loss.
10. Boise State (12). A darn good team.
11. TCU (13). Another darn good team.
12. BYU (2). I'm now am a believer of this team. Watch out!
13. Ohio State (9). So close, but so far away. Penn State should watch out.
14. Virginia Tech (17). Hokies are a team that we shouldn't take too lightly. Impressive victory over Marshall.
15. Georgia Tech (15). Almost a come from ahead loss for the Yellow Jackets. They have questions on both sides of the ball.
16. Oklahoma State (4). The D didn't show up against Houston...what's the deal? Makes me wonder if Georgia is that good of a team.
17. Nebraska (19). The Cornhuskers biggest problem is that they play in the same conference as Texas, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State.
18. Utah (21). Another week, another victory. The Utes are a solid team.
19. Cincinnati (23). Tough Big East team. They might be in another major bowl game.
20. UNC (17). Look sloppy against the Huskies. Who knows how we will do against the Pirates.
21. Georgia (19). Not too impressed with the Bulldogs. Too early to tell how they will be in 2009.
22. Texas Tech (23). The Red Raiders are what I call a sleeper team.
23. Oregon (24). Turn the page. Still a solid team.
24. Kansas (25). Tough game against the Blue Devils next week. Tough for a quarter, at least.
25. Miami (NR). The Hurricanes are for real. At least against FSU 2 weeks ago.

Honorable mentions include Michigan, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Oregon State, Houston, and Iowa.

UNC 12, UCONN 10

Going into the season, I predicted UNC would be The Citadel by a score of 36-13. We outperformed my guestimation. Overall, I was pleased with our team against The Citadel, but was worried about our sluggish start.

Last weekend we played a very hyped Huskies team. Earlier this year, I predicted we would beat UConn by a score of 27-20. I knew that playing in East Hartford would be a tall order, but I had no idea tht UConn's D would be as strong as they showed on Saturday. We beat a very solid team.

Going into the 4th quarter, Carolina was driving for a score. I just knew that we needed a TD, but we ended up settling for a field goal. UConn couldn't do anything with the ball, and we had the ball back with about 9 minutes left in the game. We once again created a strong drive, holding the ball for about 6 1/2 minutes, and tied the score 10 all with 2 and 1/2 minutes left. UConn gets the ball back and makes two blunders that cost them the game. First, the QB was not ready for the snap and the ball ended up on the 8 yard line (UConn did recover). On the next play, UConn completed a pass that was returned to about the 25 yard line, but hold on! Holding, UConn in the endzone. SAFETY!

Although UConn recovered an onsides kick, they couldn't get farther than the 50 yard line. UNC holds, and escpaes with a great 12-10 victory.

Shawn Draughn didn't look too good, but his running relies on our offensive line that was beset by injuries. Ryan Houston doesn't need those blockers as much and was able to make several impressive runs on the last series.

Ugly win, but I'll take it. GO HEELS!

HEELFEVER TOP 25, 9/8/09 edition

I've inserted next to the team's name the ranking from last week. Hope you enjoy.

1. Florida (1) Still number one
2. Southern Cal (3) Oklahoma faltered, USC benefits
3. Alabama (4) Impressive win over VT
4. Oklahoma State (7) Might be the best team in the Big 12
5. Texas (6) Texas vs Oklahoma State: classic matchup this year
6. Penn State (8) Joe Pa is still doing his magic
7. Mississippi (10) Veteran team..best in the Southeast sans Florida
8. California (11) Impressive victory over Maryland
9. Ohio State (5) OSU might have defeated Navy, but this victory was a semi-loss
10. LSU (9) Looked okay this weekend. Season still young.
11. Oklahoma (2) Losing to BYU and having a hurt QB will cause Soonerland to be up in arms.
12. Boise State (14) Defeated a strong Oregon team.
13. TCU (12) Idle last week.
14. Georgia Tech (17) Watch out for the option
15. Notre Dame (19) The luck of the Irish may be upon us.
16. Virginia Tech (13) Tough loss against the Tide. Can't penalize the Hokies too much.
17. North Carolina (18) Solid victory over a weak team. Offense has a lot of questions..
18. Nebraska (20) The Cornhuskers are a team to watch!
19. Georgia (16) Tough loss against Ole Miss.
20. BYU (NR) Tough team. I would have ranked them higher except I think that their victory was more about luck than their abilities.
21. Utah (21) Looked okay against Utah State.
22. Texas Tech (22) Another tough Big 12 team.
23. Cincinnati (25) The Bearcats may be the best team in the Big East.
24. Oregon (15) Can we say "meltdown"? I hope Oregon suspends their running back.
25. Kansas (NR) Solid program in Lawrence.

Dropping out of the Top 25 Include FSU (24) and Illinois (21)

Honorable mentions include: Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Miami, Florida State, Missouri, Oregon State, Michigan State, and Texas Tech.

Heels beat The Citadel, 40-6

Going into the game, I wanted the Carolina Defense to shine. I was not disappointed. Both of the 4th quarter field goals made by The Citadel was due to turnovers from our special teams and offense. Although I was disappointed that we didn't pitch a shutout, I was very pleased with our defensive grit.

Key stat: The Citadel had the ball for 29:36, and they only got 153 yards. That's about 5 yards allowed a minute. I can't express how important this stat is. The Citadel had the ball way too much, but they were able to get very little yardage.

Our special teams play was a mixed bag. We returned one punt for a touchdown, and then the next time we fumbled the ball which allowed The Citadel to get 3 points.

Our offense looked okay, but our stats were not impressive. 375 yards against a weak team is not acceptable. I think TJ Yates played a solid game, and although he went 9-20 for the day with 2TD's and 1 INT, the receivers dropped a half of dozen passes. We should improve on this facet next game.

We must control the clock better. We ran the ball effectively on Saturday, but we allowed four turnovers, and this is not acceptable. We will definitely improve as the season goes by.

Heel Fever Top 25 preseason poll

College football is starting to heat up. The following is my Top 25 preseason poll.

1. Florida. Too many weapons not to pick the Gators as the preseason favorite.
2. Oklahoma. Solid offense, solid defense. Texas vs. Oklahoma will be a classic game.
3. Southern California. They will start out as gangbusters. Should be major contender.
4. Alabama. Roll Tide! Saban will work his magic again.
5. Ohio State. Preseason favorite to win the Big Ten title.
6. Texas. Great program, solid coach, should give the Sooners a run for their money.
7. Oklahoma State. The Cowboys are for real. Could sneak up on Oklahoma and Texas.
8. Penn State. Joe Pa is still alive and kicking. Buckeyes beware!
9. LSU. Should be the best team in the SEC outside of the Gators and the Crimson Tide.
10. Mississippi. Solid team who could make things interesting in Oxford.
11. California. Not as solid as USC, but don't discount the Golden Bears.
12. TCU. The Horn Frogs should not be taken lightly. Exciting team!
13. Virginia Tech. The Hokies are not an exciting team, but they are fundamentally sound.
14. Boise State. Get used to Boise State being a force every year. Great program.
15. Oregon. The Ducks only problem is that California and USC are better teams.
16. Georgia. The Bulldogs should be better this year without the lofty expectations.
17. Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets will option the ACC to death again this year.
18. North Carolina. Some questions at WR, and QB not the best, but solid defense.
19. Notre Dame. A 11-1 record is not out of the question.
20. Nebraska. The Cornhuskers will once again be a solid team.
21. Illinois. The Big Ten could be won if Ohio State and Penn State falters.
22. Utah. Solid program. Doesn't get much attention, but they will once again be a force.
23. Texas Tech. Biggest problem is that they play against Texas, Oklahoma, and OKST.
24. Florida State. The Seminoles could be in the ACC Championship this year.
25. Cincinnati. The pride of the Big East? The Big East is down this year.

Honorable mentions include BYU, Iowa, Kansas, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia. Should be an interesting year!

Butch Davis, cancer survivor and solid coach

My first impression of Butch Davis was not a good impression. Butch takes over a great Miami (Florida) program from Dennis Erickson, and within 3 years the Hurricanes had a losing season. They also lost to ECU in Miami, and ECU wasn't what I call a powerhouse that year.

But the more I got to know about Butch, the more I liked him. He really cleaned that program up, and he had the Hurricanes ready to win a National Championship. Although he went to the Cleveland Browns, he was a key reason why Larry Coker celebrated a National Championship in 2001.

A lot has been said about Butch's tenure with the Browns, but I was overall impressed. He built the team from the ground up, and he got them in the playoffs in his 2nd season. Not a bad job at all.

UNC football was in dire straits, and to many Butch looked like a prayer from above. I was horrified to find out he had been diagnosed with Oral Cancer...I thought he might turn out with the same fate as Jim Tatum. Butch was tough, and he dealt with chemo that first year. Tough man, and a darn good football coach.

2007--UNC starts out with a cream puff and wins (James Madison). The Heels then lose the next 4 games (ECU, UVA, South Florida, and VT). We then handle Miami at Kenan by a score of 33-27. Losses to South Carolina and Wake follow, but the Heels rebound and defeat the Terps by a score of 16-13. Two close loses to NCSU and GT have our record at 3-8, but we defeat the Blue Devils to end up with a 4-8 record. Only 2 games during the season were blowouts (Wake and South Florida, not to mention our victory against JMU). Our offense improved a bit (20 points a game) and our defense improved a lot (23 points a game...best since the Mack Brown era).

2008--arguably the best Heels team since the Mack Brown era. An 8-5 record is not shabby at all. After a sloppy victory against McNeese State (35-27), we travel to New Jersey as an underdog to play Rutgers. We win, 44-12. We lost TJ Yates during the VT game, a game we should have won but we didn't (20-17 Hokies victory). We then play 3 very solid teams, defeating UConn, Miami, and Notre Dame. Another victory escapes us against a Virginia team (this time UVA...losing 16-13 in OT), but we come back and defeat BC and GT. We follow up these victories with a sloppy game against the Terps, losing 17-15 in a game we should have won (again). NCSU killed us 41-10, but we bounce back with a victory against the Blue Devils. West Virginia defeats us in the Meineke Bowl 31-30. Overall, a good season that could have been great. Although our record was 8-5, it could have been 12-1. Not bad at all. We scored on average 28 points a game, and allowed 21.

The 2009 season will be coming soon, and I'm very excited about the Heels. I'm a bit concerned about our offense, but I think we have solid special teams and a good, strong Defense.

Here is my predictions for this next season:

Game 1: UNC 36, The Citadel 13 (anything less will be a disappointment).
Game 2: UNC 27, UCONN 20 (we can win away....)
Game 3: UNC 34, ECU 20 (payback time!)
Game 4: UNC 17, GT 10 (GT will play better this year against us, but our D will handle their offense)
Game 5: UNC 26, Virginia 14 (UVA football is not as strong as it used to be).
Game 6: UNC 31, Georgia Southern 12 (We should defeat this team easily).
Game 7: FSU 21, UNC 20 (a major disappointment for the Heels, but still a great game).
Game 8: VT 20, UNC 10 (hard to defeat VT in Blacksburg)
Game 9: UNC 28, Duke 17 (Duke is not as bad as many think...this game could be closer).
Game 10: UNC 31, Miami 24 (Good game, another victory against the Hurricanes).
Game 11: BC 28, UNC 21 (Hard game for the Heels...cold weather will not be our friend).
Game 12: NCSU 31, UNC 24 (NCSU has the best QB in the ACC, and a defense that is not bad).

I predict an 8-4 season and a 4-4 ACC record. We should get a decent Bowl game, hopefully the Peach. With a little luck, we could end up 10-2. Our hardest games will be at BC (because of the weather), VT (Hokie nation, Hokie D), and NCSU (Marcus Wilson). The FSU game is a tossup in my mind. I could see us struggle against GT and UConn, but I feel like we will come out victorious.

The season hasn't started, and things can change. I'll reforecast my numbers during the season.

So how did we ever end up with John Bunting?

I never was captured by John Bunting's personality. He would have been a decent coach in the 1970's or 80's, but his approach was not successful with today's players.

John talked a good game, and he was able to add a 12th game to the season by playing Oklahoma in Norman. After going down 41-13 at halftime, the Heels played inspired ball, losing only by a score of 41-27. That game was followed by a loss to the Terps and a dismantling by the Longhorns of Texas. 0-3 is not the way to start out your tenure at UNC (at the same time, the last 2 coached lost their first 3 games--Brown and Torbush). Then something happened: we caught on fire against FSU, trailing only by 9-7 at half. We came out in the 2nd half and defeated a good team by a score of 41-9. We then won our next 4 games, defeating NCSU, ECU, UVA, and Clemson. We sputtered against GT and Wake, but we then won our next 3 games against Duke, SMU, and Auburn in the Peach Bowl. We averaged 26 points on offense and allowed 21 points on defense...this was a major improvement.

2002---a mini disaster. We defeated Arizona State, Syracuse, and Duke (all 3 were away games!), and lost to Miami (OH), Texas, GT, NCSU, UVA, Wake, Maryland, Clemson, and FSU). We averaged 18 points on offense and allowed 35 points on D. All 12 opponents scored at least 21 points, which was totally opposite of the team from 5 years prior (all 12 opponents in 1997 scored 20 or less).

2003--a major disaster. We had victories over ECU and Wake, but lost the other 10 games. We only held one team under 30 points (ECU, 17 points). And Duke beat us for the first time since 1989 by a score of 30-22.

2004--we had a reovery of fortune. After defeating W&M and losing to UVA, we beat a good Yellow Jacket team by a score of 34-13. We then got waxed by FSU and Louisville, but we came back and defeated a decent NCSU team by a score of 30-24. The Utah Utes destroyed us 46-16, and we lost several players to injury. The Huricanes of Miami were coming in to town, and they were in the top 5 of the Nation. It's a good thing we play football on the gridiron, because the Heels played the best game since FSU--2001, defeating Miami by a score of 31-28. After losing to a very solid VT team (27-24), the Heels handled Wake and Duke. Although we lost to BC in the Continental Tire Bowl, we at least had a sense of pride. The Heels were back. Our offense and defense improved.

2005--we weren't back for long. We could have defeated our first 2 teams if we had started strong. After losing close matches to GT and Wisconsin, we defeated NCSU and Utah. We then got DESTROYED by Louisville (69-14), but then followed it up by defeating UVA 7-5. The Heels defeated BC and Duke, but lost to Miami, Maryland, and VT. A 5-6 season is medicority at it's best.

2006---Bunting is on the ropes early and often. In the first 10 games the Heels win a total of 1, defeating Division I-AA Furman by a score of 45-42. We then end the season by defeating NCSU and Duke. We score on average 18 points a game on offense and allow 31 points on defense...not good, not good.

The Heels had some highlights during the Bunting years. A 4-2 record against NCSU, a 5-1 record against Duke, a victory over FSU and Miami (FL), and a Peach Bowl victory over Auburn. These games represent 12 of Bunting's 27 victories, which kind of explains why Bunting wasn't asked back for a 7th year. Inconsistency reigned these years.

Carl Torbush, good man, good defensive coordinator, tapped to succeed Brown

Does anyone remember "King Carl"?

Carl Snavely, also known as "King Carl", was the Head Football coach of the Heels during the Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice years. It would be hard for anyone to conclude that the Heels had a better 4 year period than in 1946-1949. 2 Sugar Bowls and 1 Cotton Bowl appearance in these 4 years are unprecendented in Tar Heel Football lore.

Welcome to the Carl Torbush years. Carl wasn't a King, but he was a good guy. His defenses were hard for any team to penetrate, especially after the first couple of years (1988-89). He was a good (not great) Defensive Coordinator. He was a likable fellow, and the football players loved him. He took over a shaken program who had their coach, Mack Brown, leave after the 1997 regular season. Carl took over and led the Heels to a 49-7 victory over Virginia Tech. Not a bad way to start off. Too bad it was the pinnacle of his success.

At the beginning of the 1998 season, most pundits had the Heels around 10th in the nation. I know I thought that the Heels may actually improve because Mack's Achillies Heel was with special teams. Too many blocked punts, field goals, fumbles on special teams for my liking. The Heels started off with an easy opener against Miami (Ohio), but unfortunately our offense sputtered. Too many incomplete passes, not enough of a running game, plus poor execution on Defense left us with a 13-10 defeat. After that game, we go to Stanford and lose to a mediocre Cardinal team. We come back to UNC and lose to a decent GT team by a score of 43-21. 0-3, not a good way to start the season. We rebounded, defeating Clemson, Pittsburgh, and Wake, but none of these teams were very good, and none of the scores were blowouts. We head off to Tallahassee and lose to the Seminoles by a score of 39-13 (not the worse score...FSU only lost to 1 team-Virginia, in its first 6 seasons in the ACC). We come back the Chapel Hill and defeat a mediocre Terps team by a score of 24-13, and then we lose to the Wahoos by a score of 30-13 (at UVA, a place where we haven't celebrated victory since 1981). We then defeat a poor Duke team by a score of 28-6. So we are now 5-5, and we head to Charlotte to play the Pack. The game was probably the best game of our season, and we pulled off a win by a score of 37-34. We receive a berth to the Las Vegas Bowl, and we defeat the Aztecs by a score of 20-13. Tough year, but we did win a Bowl game, right? But the telling stat for 1998 was that the Carolina D allowed, on average, 24 points a game. Remember, we haven't allowed one opponent to score more than 20 points in 1996 and 1997. Our offense averaged 24 points a game, so we didn't have the luxury of allowing that many points.

1999 was a disaster. We start off the season against a good UVA team, but lose by a last minute field goal (final score 20-17). We go to Indiana and defeat a poor Hooiser team by a score of 42-30. We then have to play a double dose of the Bowdens, and we were handed 2 more defeats from the Seminoles and the Tigers. And then, we play a great game against the #9 team of the nation, the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech. I was at the game with my wife, my sister, and brother-in-law, watching in amazement while we handled the Yellow Jackets. And then the injury of the decade occurred--Ronald Curry is done with the season on a freak accident. We still almost won the game, but GT came back and scored in the last moments of the game, sending us to OT. We end up losing 31-24, more symbolic than most games, I guess. We come back to Chapel Hill and lose to a mediocre Houston team by a score of 20-12. And then, playing the worst game of the decade, we are handed a defeat by the Terps by a score of 45-7 (this same team shared the ACC basement with us in 1999). We then lose to a Division I-AA team (Furman) by a score of 28-3. And it's not like Furman was a powerhouse: they lost to Elon the same year. The Deacons then defeat the Heels for the first time since 1989 by a score of 19-3. Heading in the Wolfpack game (again played in CLT), our team had (a) no offense and (b) not a good defense. But something happened: the Heels played inspired and defeated a decent Pack team by a score of 10-6. The next week, the Heels were the underdog against Duke, but the Heels came out on top, winning by a score of 38-0. These last 2 victories gave Torbush a reprieve...he would be back in 2000. On average we scored 17 points per game and allowed 25 points a game.

2000 was a better year. We started out with 2 solid victories over Tulsa and Wake Forest. After getting demolished by FSU (63-14), the Heels defeated a marginal Marshall team by a score of 20-15. We then lost the next 4 games, going down against GT, NCSU, Clemson, and UVA. Again, just like 1998 and 1999, we go out with a blast, defeating Pitt, Maryland, and Duke. We averaged 24 points on offense and allowed 26 points on defense.

So why did Torbush not succeed? I have several theories:

1. Recruiting. The last 2 years under Mack Brown was mediocre (sans Curry), and Torbush had to compete against a resurging NCSU team. Also, Terry Bowden of Clemson was a good recruiter, and he tapped into North Carolina on several occassions.
2. Injuries. But that is part of the game, right? Well, when you have injuries, you should have the depth to recover, but because of mediocre recruiting, our depth chart was weak.
3. Torbush was not a self-promoter. To be a successful NCAA head coach in the state of NC, you have to be able to reach out to the high school coaches. Torbush could not, and his personality was too reserved to make a deep impact.
4. Defense. Torbush tried to be his own defensive coordinator, and it didn't work, and by the time he gave this duty up, it was too late.

Again, Torbush was a good guy, and he was a good defensive coordinator, but he wasn't a successful head coach. With an overall record of 17-18, you might think he was due another year. However, the AD did not concur. Looking back, I know that UNC football needed a change.

Mack Brown goes to Texas, and UNC football needs a new coach

At the conclusion of the 1997 regular season, Mack Brown leaves for Texas. Players are hurt, the alumni are upset, and we have to play a Virginia Tech team in the Gator Bowl. Carl Torbush takes over, and the Heels destroyed the Hokies by the lopsided score of 42-3. Did Mack Brown make the right decision? Well, Texas did win a National Championship, and the Longhorns had the better football tradition, so I guess, hindsight being 20/20, everything worked out for Mack. Last time I checked he was still the Longhorn football coach.

Carl Torbush is a fine person, and I thought he brought a certain level of class to the Tar Heel program. After coaching Louisiana Tech to a 3-8 record in 1987, Torbush is hired by the Heels to be their offensive coordinator/linebackers coach for the 1988 season. At first, with limited talent on the field, the Heels defense suffered. The first 2 seasons were a disaster, although the Heels did improve on the Defensive side of the field, albeit some setbacks (i.e. vs. Duke, 1989, a 41-0 defeat). Starting in 1990, the Heels pitched their first shutout in 4 years, defeating Miami (Ohio) by a score of 34-0. Gradually the Heels played better defensive games, and the number of points allowed decreased. From 1988-1997, the Heels allowed, on average, 36, 27, 17, 18, 19, 19, 22, 17, 10 and 12 points a game. After the 1994 season, Torbush was told that the UNC Defense must improve if he wanted to remain the offensive coordinator. By looking at the results previously displayed, he exceeded expectations.

Based on his success, Carl Torbush becomes coach of the Tar Heels. Great guy, but could he be a head football coach for a rising powerhouse?

At the beginning of the 1998 season, the Heels were ranked around 10th place in most preseason polls. The first two games of the season were supposed to be warmups for the meat of the schedule, but instead, the Heels lost both games. Miami (Ohio) won 13-10, and Stanford beat the Heels 37-34. The next week, the Yellow Jackets put a hurting on the Heels, winning 43-21. This is the most points allowed by a Heels team since UVA defeated Carolina in 1989. The Heels rebounded, winning the next 3 games against Pittsburgh, Clemson, and Wake. Florida State defeated UNC by 39-13, UNC beat the Terps by a score of 24-13, and then Virginia prevailed against us, winning 30-13. UNC was sporting a 4-5 record, with Duke and NC State next. UNC beat Duke 28-6, so the State game was the key if Carolina was to go to a bowl. In Charlotte, UNC and State played a classic game, going into overtime. UNC prevailed by a score of 37-34. In the Las Vegas Bowl, UNC capped a winning season by defeating San Diego State by a score of 20-13.

Tar Heel nation was mixed about the 1998 season. Some were disappointed by the Heels record, but others were encouraged on how Torbush turned the season around. Most of us were slightly concerned, but were willing to support Torbush. We realized it was hard to replace Mack Brown under these circumstances. The telling statistic was that the Heels allowed, on average, 24 points per game, the most since the 1989 debacle.

Then came UNC's waterloo season. 1999 was the end of a 9 year winning-record stretch. The Heels played a hard fought game against the Wahoos, but came up short by a score of 20-17. After the Indiana game (a victory), the Heels had a 1-1 record. 7 games later, the Heels sported a 1-8 record, losing to FSU, Clemson, GT, Houston, Maryland, Furman and Wake. Sure, we had a lot of injuries, but injuries are a part of the game. The Heels had limited depth, and we all know who gets blamed when things are not going well. Torbush, once again, had his back against the wall. Playing a decent NC State team, the Heels defeat the Wolfpack by a score of 10-6. The next week UNC waxed Duke by a score of 38-0. These 2 games probably saved Torbush for one more season. The telling statistic, once again, was on D: the Heels allowed, on average, 25 points a game (before the State/Duke games, the Heels were allowing 30 points a game).

Torbush promised that the 2000 season would be better, and it was better. UNC defeated 6 teams (Tulsa, Wake, Marshall, Pitt, Maryland and Duke) and lost to 5 teams (FSU, GT, State, Clemson, Virginia). The culprit, once again, was on D. The Heels allowed on average 26 points per game.

Did Baddour hire the right man? I'm not Baddour, and I have no idea who he had to choose from. Baddour's pick allowed the Heels to maintain a good Defensive Coordinator, but unfortunately this man was not up for the challenge to be Head Coach. Torbush couldn't concentrate on D like he needed to, and as a result the Heels suffered. He was also a victim of having a lot of injured players, and realistically UNC's recruiting slipped the last couple of years under Mack's tenure. The better question to ask is "Could anyone succeed under these circumstances"? We will all be asking this question for a long time.

The Mack Brown Years

After Dick Crum left UNC, I wanted a good "name" coach to resurrect our football program. I was disappointed when Mack Brown was named our coach. I was even more puzzled after listening to him speak. I was reassured that he was the offensive coordinator for Barry Switzer for a year, but I wasn't too impressed with his thin resume (Head Coach, App State and Tulane). I thought the Heels could have done better.

In 1988, UNC started the season playing 4 non-conference foes: South Carolina, Oklahoma, Louisville, and Auburn. The Heels lost all 4 of these games, and the Tar Heel nation was rumbling. Was it our new coach, or was it because the cupboard was dry? The Heels lost the next 2 games against Wake and NC State (an ugly 48-3 loss at Kenan). Finally, when all hope seemed lost, the Heels beat a Yellow Jacket squad by a score of 20-17. The Heels lost their remaining games, and the season ended with a 1-10 record. UNC had some close defeats (Louisville, Maryland, Virginia and Duke), but the rest were pretty much blowouts.

1989 started off with UNC spanking VMI, 49-7 (my first game I attended as an undergrad). After that, the Heels lost 10 straight games. The worse defeat in my mind was the 41-0 defeat at the hands of the Blue Devils. The Heels were competitive against Kentucky, Navy, Wake, GT, and South Carolina, but the rest were a bunch of blowouts.

1990 was a turning point for the Heels. UNC pitched its first shutout in 4 years, defeating Miami (Ohio) by a score of 34-0. A defeat at the hands of South Carolina followed, but the Heels rebounded with victories against Connecticut and Kentucky. NC State defeated the Heels 12-9 with a 50+ field goal in the last few moments of the game, but Carolina came back and defeated Wake Forest the next week. A tie with GT occurred the next game (the eventual National Champions), and a nice strong victory against Maryland left the Heels with a 5-2-1 record. However, Clemson and Virginia defeated the Heels, and Carolina now had to wait for Duke. The UNC-Duke game was not a fun game to watch, but Carolina did prevail by a score of 24-22. Mack Brown had turned the page.

1991 was supposed to be a year where the Heels would fight for the ACC Championship. The Heels were improved, but a 3-4 Conference record left us with a 7-4 overall record, missing a Bowl berth by a miniscule margin. The defeats were to NC State, Clemson, Virginia, and GT, but they weren't lopsided affairs.

The next year was my Senior year, and there was definitely higher expectations for Mack Brown to take us to a Bowl game. After defeating our first 3 opponents, we played NC State at Kenan. We were supposed to win, but we came up short by a score of 27-20. This was the fifth straight year we lost to State, and the Alumni were not too pleased. However, UNC only lost 2 more times that year (to Clemson and Florida State). Going into the Duke game, UNC sported a record of 7-3. Duke, on the other hand, hadn't defeated an ACC opponent all season. UNC should roll over the Blue Devils. Instead, Duke controlled the game, and only at the end did UNC prevail by a score of 31-28. An 8-3 season left us with a Peach Bowl berth against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs dominated the beginning part, leading us 14-0. If it wasn't for a couple of holding penalties, the score could have been 28-0. UNC regrouped and defeated Mississippi State by a score of 21-17.

UNC started the 1993 season with high expectations. We started off against Southern Cal as the underdog, but we won the game handily by the score of 31-9. We then destroyed Ohio by 44-3, and then played a high scoring affair against Maryland, prevailing 59-42. FSU was next, and UNC did score first, going ahead 7-0 on the arm of Jason Stanicek. At halftime, we were only down 10-7, but FSU "turned it on" and defeated us by a score of 33-7. UNC regrouped and won the next 4 games (including Mack's first victory against NC State!), but then lost a close game to UVA by a score of 17-10. UNC then defeated Clemson 24-0 (first victory against the Tigers since 1985!). After defeating Tulane and Duke, UNC had a 10-2 record with a Gator Bowl invitation against Alabama. Roll Tide Nation was waiting, and they defeated us 24-10.

1994 was a solid year, but the Heels only posted a 8-3 regular season record. They couldn't defeat UVA in Charlottesville, nor could they defeat FSU or Clemson. The Sun Bowl was a great affair to watch, but UNC came up short against Texas by a score of 35-31.

The next year was a very hard year for the Heels, although they did have a winning record and a victory against Arkansas in the Carquest Bowl. We lost to Syracuse, Maryland, GT, Clemson, and FSU, and most of these losses were a direct result of turnovers. The offense was stagnant, and the defense wasn't opportunistic. There were some rumblings by the alumni that Mack Brown wasn't the answer.

Mack's best year may have been in 1996. There were only 2 close defeats (UVA 20-17, FSU 13-0), but our D showed up, not allowing any team to score more than 20 points all season. UNC defeated a strong West Virginia team by a score of 20-13. Carolina defeated Clemson 45-0, Syracuse 27-10, GT 16-0, Wake 45-6, Maryland 38-7, Houston 42-14, NC State 52-20, Louisville 28-10, and Duke 27-10. All of these victories were impressive.

In Mack's last year, the Heels finished the season with a 11-1 record. Again, the most points allowed by our D was 20. However, I noticed several games where the Heels didn't start the game very impressive. We defeated Indiana 23-6, but Indiana was very weak. We defeated Stanford 28-17, but only after we scored 2 touchdowns late in the game. The Maryland game was impressive (40-14), but we looked like we weren't to interested in playing fundamentally sound football. UNC defeated UVA 48-20, but only after being behind 20-3. We barely held on to beat GT and Clemson, and NC State played a solid game against us too. We did demolish VT by a score of 42-3, but that was an emotional game after Mack had committed to coaching the Longhorns a few weeks before.

Mack Brown may have left the program at the best time. I don't think he's what I call the greatest UNC coach ever, but he did develop a strong program by the time he left. However, the Heels may have regressed a bit in 1997, although very few will say this since the Heels finished 11-1.

So what do you think of UNC football? Looking at the Crum years.

My first memory of UNC football was in 1978, the first year Dick Crum was the coach. In that first year, UNC lost to NC State, Clemson, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Miami of Ohio, and Richmond, while defeating East Carolina, Duke, Wake, South Carolina and Virginia. a 5-6 season was a disappointment, especially since the Heels won a share of the ACC championship the year before. Of the six losses, Richmond was a complete disaster. Losing to Miami hurt, especially since Crum coached Miami the year before, but Miami was a solid program. Pittsburgh was still a powerhouse, and NC State, Clemson and Maryland were the forces that led the ACC during this time.

The next year was much better. UNC went 8-3-1, including a victory against Michigan in the Gator Bowl. The losses were against WFU (24-19), Clemson (19-10), and Maryland (17-14). UNC tied ECU 24 all. UNC was a rolling.

Next year was the best year under Crum. The Heels had a 11-1 record, with it's only loss to Oklahoma (41-6). In the Heels first 7 games, the opponents scored a collective 39 points. Solid Defense was the key.

In 1981, the Heels again played solid football, going 10-2. The offense was providing a lot of points (56, 49, 56, 28, 48) in the first 5 games, but slowed down after Tyrone Anthony's injury (21,13,17, 8, 17) the next 5 games. The Heels only allowed 2 opponents to score more than 14 points all season (South Carolina, Arkansas). UNC lost to the eventual National Champions, Clemson, by a score of 10-8. Great season.

1982 was not as successful as the previous 3 years, but solid nonetheless. UNC lost to #1 Pittsburgh, at Pittsburgh, by a score of 7-6. Some kid named Marino was the QB. After that game, the Heels destroyed Vanderbilt, Army, GT, WFU and NC State by a collective score of 202-34. After the NC State game, the Heels suffered back-to-back defeats to Maryland (31-24) and Clemson (16-13). A victory over Virginia (27-14) was offset by a defeat by Duke (23-17). The Heels defeated Bowling Green (33-14), and in the Sun Bowl, defeated Texas (26-10). Not a bad season at all.

In 1983, UNC started out of the gates on fire, defeating South Carolina, Memphis, Miami-Ohio, William & Mary, GT, WFU and NC State by a collective score of 257-100. The offense was among the best in the NCAA, and the Heels were ranked #3 in the Nation. however, the Heels' defense was a bit suspect. The next 3 games were against quality opponents, and they resulted in 3 losses to Maryland (28-26), Clemson (16-3), and Virginia (17-14). The Heels barely escaped Duke with a win (34-27), but were destroyed by Florida State in the Peach Bowl (28-3). A turning point had happened to the Heels that year, but a turn in the wrong direction.

I remember hearing Dick Crum tell the alumni in 1984 that the Heels would be rebuilding and not to expect a great season. He was, unfortunately, correct. The talent pool had dried up. The Heels started out with losses against Navy (33-30) and Boston College (52-20), but was able to defeat Kansas (23-17, also the first live game I saw at Kenan Stadium). The Heels went to 1-4 with losses against Clemson (20-12) and WFU (14-3), but then won 2 games against mediocre NC State (28-21) and Memphis (30-27). UNC then lost to Maryland (34-23) beat GT (24-17), tied Virginia (24 all) and lucked out against Duke (17-15). Dick Crum was not going to lose his job based on this 1 season, especially after he guided the Heels to 5 straight winning seasons. A 5-5-1 season is the definition of mediocrity, however.

1985 was a mix year...the Defense was better and the Offense was worse. The Heels had only 1 impressive victory (Clemson, 21-20), and several unimpressive defeats (GT 31-0, Duke 23-21). Dick Crum was put on notice that the Heels would have to improve if he wanted to retire in good ole Chapel Hill. 5-6 was not acceptable.

And the Heels did improve in 1986. The Heels started off 4-0-1, defeating Citidal, Kansas, GT and WFU, along with a tie against FSU in Tallahassee. And then the worse case scenario happened: UNC lost for the first time since 1978 to the Wolfpack, 35-34. Great game, but the Heels came up one 2 point conversion short of a victory. The Heels ended the season with a record of 7-4-1. The executioner had to wait for one more year.

1987 was Crum's Waterloo. UNC started the season 5-3, with losses against Oklahoma, Auburn, and WFU, but an impressive come from behind victory against GT (30-23). The season didn't end, however, until 3 consecutive losses against Clemson (13-10), Virginia (20-17), and Duke (25-10). Losing to Clemson and Virginia was understandable, but losing to the Blue Devils for the third time in 6 years was not. Before the Duke-UNC game, the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity bought a big U-Haul truck and placed it on Crum's front yard. A cruel joke, but symbolic of their feelings towards Crum.

In a nutshell, Crum was the right man at the right time during the late 70's and early 80's. However, his game was very conservative and he couldn't attract a load of talent to Chapel Hill based on his system. He couldn't change, and when he did try to open up his offense, it was too late. As far as successful tenures at UNC go, I would rank him behind Carl Snavely and Bill Dooley, but only slightly ahead of Mack Brown and Jim Tatum. If he had changed his offense after the 1982 season, who knows, he may have coached the Heels for over 20 years.

College World Series

I attended UNC-Chapel Hill from 1989 to 1993. Although I'm a big baseball fan, I was never that interested in college baseball. I will say that I enjoy watching Coach Fox's teams over the last 10 seasons on the tube. I prefer Coach Fox over Coach Roberts simply because Coach Fox has a more magnetic personality. Coach Fox's teams have provided the Tar Heels with better results, too.

Fourth straight year to Omaha...that's a very impressive resume for the Tar Heels. We don't have any noticable weaknesses, either. I don't expect the Heels to win the college world series (they would have to win 4 straight games...quite doable but against the competition, it will be hard to provide).

I haven't posted anything about the baseball Heels, but it's more because of my limited enthusiasm for college baseball. I look forward to the day when the players are actually using wooden bats.

Blue Blood

This past week I've been reading "Blue Blood", authored by Art Chansky. The book is mostly about the UNC-Duke rivalry, both on and off the hardwood courts. I checked it out at the local library, and I'd recommend anyone to read it if you are a die hard UNC or Duke fan.

It's been over 2 months since UNC defeated Michigan State for the National Championship. I don't see UNC going back and repeating next year, but we will be competitive. Duke will be a force to be reckoned with, but they lost their best player, Gerald Henderson, to the draft.

A look at the 2009-10 Duke Blue Devils:

At Point Guard, I'm giving the nod to Eliot Williams over Nolan Smith. Both are solid point guards, but Duke seemed to be a tad better with Eliot in control. Both are an improvement over Greg Paulus.

At Shooting Guard I've got Jon Scheyer penciled in. He's a solid player, and he should have a great senior season. I see Nolan Smith subbing for Scheyer. Martin Pocius will fill in as needed.

Small Forward is a bit of a dilemma. The Blue Devils could go small and move Scheyer to the small forward position, or they could go big and have Kyle Singer play it instead. My gut feeling is that Singler is more ideal in the 3 position. Singler prefers the perimeter, and he's fast enough to guard smaller men, too.

Power Forward could be filled by the freshman Ryan Kelly, or Coach K could play Lance Thomas. Kelly has more athleticism, but Thomas has more experience and has savvy. Singler can also play this position, so power forward should be in good hands next year.

Center should go to Mason Plumlee, who is much better than Zoubek. The center must be able to rebound, and both candidates should get plenty of minutes next year.

I see the Blue Devils starting off with a 9 player rotation. However, most of the players are either unproven (Kelly, Plumlee, and to a certain extent Pocius) or they have been in Coach K's doghouse (Smith, Williams, and Zoubek). Thomas is a decent player, but he's more of a role player than a star. Singler and Scheyer are great college basketball players, and next year they will have to step up their game to another level.

When I made my predictions about next year, I had Duke leading the way. Losing Gerald Henderson hurts, but the Blue Devils didn't lose much more (Paulus, McClure). They should be better, but younger. They will have more size, but they won't be as fast. I still believe the Blue Devils will win the regular season, but it's more by default. If UNC can get solid production from the point, the Heels will be in the driver's seat. At this time, the point guard position is a question mark, so I give a small edge to the Blue Devils.

So who is ready for some ACC football?

In a nutshell, the 2008 season was the seaon of mediocrity. I don't see it changing much from last year. 4 teams went 5-3 within conference, and 6 teams went 4-4. It will be a tad different next year, but don't expect 1 team dominating either division within the ACC.

Early preseason picks:

Atlantic Division:

1. Maryland. Fear the turtle. The Atlantic Division is the deeper division, and the Terps should have enough offense and defense to win it next year.
2. Wake. Strong team, bend but don't break defense, and a solid offense. Grobe is a great coach.
3. FSU. Bowden has egg on his face, and I don't believe FSU will recover next year. He's got the talent, but does the Seminoles have the discipline?
4. BC. A good team that lost a good coach. This team could surprise me, but I don't see it happening in 2009.
5. NCSU. O'Brien has rebuilt the Pack, and they should be in a Bowl game next year.
6. Clemson. A new coach, but the same overrated players. I don't see them recovering from the black cloud that has been over the program the last 5 years.

Coastal Division.

1. VT. The Hokies are the kings of this division, and they will not disappoint the Blacksburg fans next year. Great Defense and a marginal offense will win them another trip to the ACC Championship.
2. GT. Decent team, good coach, and great prospects will take the Yellow Jackets to runners-up in 2009.
3. UNC. The Heels could surprise me, but I don't think it will be in 2009. QB is a question mark, and the WR positions are vacant. The running game made strides in 2009, but it's still not dominant. The Heels will have to rely on its Defense in 2009, and that still scares me.
4. Miami. Shannon is on the hot seat, and it will get hotter as the year goes by. I don't believe the Hurricanes will make much strides in 2009.
5. Virginia. The program needs another coach. UVA played good ball at times last year, but I don't believe 2009 will be very bright for the Cavs.
6. Duke. Cutcliffe is a solid coach, and winning 4 games last year was just short of a miracle. He doesn't have the talent, and 2009 will be hard for the Blue Devils. In a couple of years, Cutcliffe will have the team in a bowl game...

ACC Basketball: a 2009-2010 preview

I've been silent since the conclusion of the 2008-09 basketball season. Not much to discuss regarding college sports, so I thought I'd make a couple of comments about next season. Going into the 2009-2010 season, there are plenty of uncertainties regarding the league. I thought I'd take a dive and make my own predictions about the upcoming year. I'll start from the bottom and go up.

12. Virginia. This program has been on the downslide ever since the 1994-95 season. I don't blame Jeff Jones...he went thru a divorce that was frown upon by the Cav alumni. I blame a lack of leadership within the Athletic Department. This team doesn't have many high quality players. They may win 3 or 4 games in Conference next year.

11. NC State. I'm not picking on the Pack, but they are losing Costner, McCauley and Fells, their top 3 players from last year. They should be okay at the point, and they have some prospects to help out at shooting guard, but besides Tracy Smith, they don't have a lot of talent in the paint. They should win 5 or 6 Conference games.

10. Virginia Tech. I'm hesitant on picking the Hokies this close to the bottom, but I don't think they will be as good as they were last year. They will have a young team next year, and A.D will not be on the team. They have a good young team, but they will struggle next year. I can see them winning 6 conference games next year.

9. Georgia Tech. Hewitt is on the hot seat, and the one reason why he'll be back in Atlanta is the great recruits he will have next year. However, the recruits are better as a whole than as viewing them individually. They could suprise me next year. 6 or 7 conference wins is my prediction.

8. Boston College. No Tyrese Rice, and no recruits coming in. I thought last year the team overachieved, but they will be pressed to meet last year's productivity. 6 or 7 conference wins should be expected.

7. Florida State. This team is solid, but they lost a lot of their offense and defense when Douglas graduated. 7 or 8 wins will be expected.

6. Wake Forest. Last year was a disappointment for the Demon Deacons, especially as the season progressed. They have lost Teague, Johnson and Hale, but they did bring in a good recruiting class. This should be a fun team to watch, and they will start out fast out of the gate. But a young team will tire as the season progresses. 8 or 9 wins will be a good season for the Deacs.
5. Miami. Last year's team was a disappointment, and they did lose Graham, McClinton and Asbury. But they have a solid recruiting class that will make the Hurricanes into an NCAA tourney team. 8 or 9 wins should be expected.

4. Maryland. Gary Williams is on the hot seat...no questions about it. Gary will respond with a good season. Last year the Terps sneaked into the tournament, but they shouldn't have to sneak in this time. They lost David Neal, but Gary Williams will have two great prospects coming in, plus a team that is 1 year older. 9 or 10 wins should be expected.

3. Clemson. This team is a year older, and they have a lot of talent returning, plus they have 3 decent prospects coming to Littlejohn next year. An exciting team that plays sound defense. We should see the Tigers win 10 or 11 games next year.

2. UNC. A great team that has simply retooled. Sure, we lost Green, Hansbrough, Lawson, Ellington and Frasor, but we brought in the best recruiting class in the nation. I see 11 or 12 wins as the goal.

1. Duke. Coach K has a great team, even without Henderson. Singler is solid, and so is Sheyer and Williams. Coach K has a deep bench that will prevent his players from being tired. I see 12 or 13 wins next year.

UNC 89, Michigan State 72. NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!

Go Heels!

I watched the game with my college roomie at the Dean Dome...great experience. The Dean Dome was literally shaking! Great experience, and I had great company.

The game, from a purist point of view, was not that exciting unless you wore the shade of Carolina Blue. The Heels dominated the first 10 minutes of the game, leading at one time by a score of 34-11. So how did the Heels do it?

1. Ty Lawson, Mr. Point guard. He was my pick for the Final Four MOP, especially since he had 7 steals in the first half. He is the best 5 foot 11 inch point guard of all time. Super strong, super fast, and super smart.
2. Wayne Ellington, Mr. Shooting guard. He's a deadly scorer. He won the MOP, and he has won the hearts of the Tar Heel Nation.
3. Psycho T....Mr. Intensity. I really believe that his presence makes everyone else on the court a better player.
4. Deon Thompson, Mr. Role player. He led the team the first 10 minutes of the game with his shooting touch and rebounding skills.
5. Roy Williams, Mr. UNC. His tenure at UNC has been more exciting than any other 6 years of Carolina basketball history. The man can recruit, he can motivate, and he can flat out coach.

I'd like to say goodbye to our Seniors.....they were all special. Frasor accepted his role off the bench, being regulated as a backup his last 3 years. Mike Copeland, who may not have played much, kept things loose in the locker room and on the bench. Danny Green, with his exciting play, could really hit the open 3 when the game is on the line. Tyler Hansbrough...not enough can be said about this Senior, so I will just say "Thank you" for his 4 years of service.

Ellington and Lawson are probably heading to the pros. We should accept this as their right, and just be thankful that they came back to UNC so we can get the National Championship.

Teamwork wins National Championships, and UNC had the best team concept in the college basketball this year.

Go HEELS!!!

UNC vs Michigan State, tonight at 9:20 p.m.

The only time I like playing these late night games is when we play for the National Championship.



Don't assume that the Heels will win the National Championship....it's just too early for us to "hang up the banner" until the game has been played. Many people assume that we will tonight because we blew out Michigan State earlier this year. Michigan State is a different team now...back in December, they came off a long road trip and were exhausted, plus they played without Suton. He's back, and the team is now on a roll.

Keys to a UNC victory:

1. Defense. Without tough D, UNC will struggle. This is a broken record, but this is reality.
2. Make your free throws! UNC was 22-37 against the Wildcats. Consider this an exception, but we must make our free throws tonight.
3. Feed the monster. Hansbrough has been okay during the tournament, but he's due for a big night. Pound the ball inside and feed Psycho T.
4. Don't force jump shots. UNC's perimeter game carried the Heels to the Championship game. Ellington, Green, and Lawson were on fire. Don't expect 11-22 from 3 point land tonight. If we get 7 3-pointers tonight, I'll be happy.
5. Get the early lead. When UNC obtains the early lead, we can dictate the tempo of the game. Michigan State is not as explosive in the transition game as the Heels. If the game becomes a half-court matchup, the Heels will be in for a long night.

UNC has the better talent, and they have Hansbrough, Green, and Frasor playing their last game for the Heels. Ellington and Lawson may be playing their last game tonight. Expect a strong effort from the Heels. Michigan State has the homecourt advantage, but the Heels very seldom are rattled by being the road team. Michigan State is not only playing for themselves, but they are playing for a state that has been decimated by economic woes (highest unemployment in the nation). North Carolina has the 4th highest unemployment, so this point may be moot.

Final Prediction: UNC 82, Michigan State 72.

UNC 83, Villanova 69

Go Heels!

Who would have thought that the Heels would beat Villanova by 14, and, at the same time...

1. Be out-rebounded.
2. Be out-scored in the paint.
3. Commit the same amount of turnovers as their opponents.
4. Shoot 40.3% from the field for the entire game.
5. Miss 15 free throws.

That's why we play the game! On paper, the Heels were impressive in the first half, shooting 58%. Ellington was on fire, and Green played a very respectable game.

The Heels will play for the National Championship tonight. Be prepared for anything that might occur!

The Final Four is set and the Heels are participants!

Go Heels!!





My first year I prepared brackets was in 1982. That year I picked UNC, and they won the Championship. I've had a bracket (just one) every year since.

I've been guilty of picking UNC many of those years. I picked the Heels to win everything in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2005, and 2008.

This year, I picked Villanova to win it all. Many people thought the Wildcats were a longshot, but not me. The Cats' have some talent.

My Final Four picks this year are UNC, Villanova, Memphis, and Michigan State. I have Michigan State over Villanova in the finals. But my picks were almost 3 weeks ago. A lot have changed since then.

First, UNC has played the best 4 games of the season since the non-conference portion of our schedule. We've played one cupcake (Radford), one underrated team (LSU), one overrated team (Gonzaga) and one one-dimensional team (Oklahoma). All four teams have had some weaknesses that we exploited. Going forward, teams are stronger and have less weaknesses to exploit.



First off, I think UNC will defeat Villanova. The Wildcats played an excellent game against Pitt, but I don't see them hanging with our big men. The Cats' will have to defend both the inside and the outside. The Heels have too many weapons to stop.



Keys to the UNC-Villanova game:

1. Pound it inside and feed Hansbrough the ball. Enough said.
2. Perimeter Defense...enough said again.
3. Distribute the ball among the players evenly. The Heels have too many weapons not to spread the wealth around.
4. Win the turnover margin. The Heels have won the last 4 games by minimizing the amount of turnovers and capitalizing on the other teams' mistakes.

I expect a hard fought game with the Heels winning, 88-80. I also expect that Michigan State will bring the house down by defeating UConn, 71-67.

The Heels vs The Zags, 9:57 pm Friday night

Have I told everyone how I dislike these late games? UGH.

The Heels are not hitting on all eight cylinders, but we probably have enough in the tank to survive and advance to the Elite Eight. Am I worried? Of course. Will the Heels win? Probably.

Keys to the game:

1. Go inside, and then go inside again. Allow Hansbrough to be the dominate force and carry the team inside. Lawson may be the MVP of the Heels, but Hansbrough is the force to be reckoned with. Allow Davis to exert himself on the boards, and let Thompson to sneak up on everyone and score 12 points.
2. Disco Danny. He's forcing his game too much. He needs to be poised during the game and let the game come to him. He does seem to thrive on pressure, and he can make the critical shots. When the game is not on the line, he will make some bad shots. We need him to minimize his shooting and maximize on his other assets, such as rebounding.
3. Lawson needs to charge his jets. Lawson is a great player, probably the best point guard in the nation. Allow him to drive to the basket and either shoot or dish out the rock.
4. DEFENSE. Nothing more, nothing less.

This will be a close game, and the Heels will put some of our fans into cardiac arrest. The Heels will be fighting the entire game, and it will be a struggle.

Final Prediction: UNC 91, Gonzaga 85.

The Heels are in the Sweet Sixteen

Last week I was on vacation, so I didn't get a chance to give everyone my picks. That's probably a good thing.

This tournament has been a "status quo" tournament, with only one surprise in the Sweet 16--Arizona.

I correctly predicted 23 of the 32 first round games. That, my friends, is mediocre at best. I was a bit more successful in the second round, picking 13 of the 16 games acurately. I had FSU going to the Elite Eight, but they flamed out in the first round. So I'm already behind the eight ball for the next round.

My predictions:

UNC over Gonzaga
Syracuse over Oklahoma
Michigan State over West Virginia (already eliminated)
Louisville over WFU (already eliminated)
Connecticut over Purdue
Memphis over Missouri
FSU (already eliminated) over Pitt
Villanova over Duke

I didn't see the Heels play LSU, but I was happy with the end result. LSU was probably a fifth or sixth seed-caliber team, and they were ready against the Heels.

Congrats to the Duke fans

If Carolina won every ACC Tournament Championship, I would not appreciate our team as much. I am disappointed that the Heels didn't win, but Duke deserves to bask in the glory of their 17th ACC Tournament Championship.

This year was the 56th ACC Tournament. Below is a recap of the number of ACC Tournament Champions since the beginning of the ACC:

1. UNC, 17 total(57,67,68,69,72,75,77,79,81,82,89,91,94,97,98,07,08)
2. Duke, 17 (60,63,64,66,78,80,86,88,92,99,00,01,02,03,05,06,09)
3. NC State, 10 (54,55,56,59,65,70,73,74,83,87).
4. Wake Forest, 4 (61,62,95,96)
5. Georgia Tech, 3 (85,90,93)
6. Maryland, 3 (58, 84, 04)
7. South Carolina, 1 (71)
8. Virginia, 1 (76)

Clemson is now 0 for 56 in the ACC Tournament. Other teams not winning include relatively new members, which are FSU (0 for 17), BC, VT, and Miami.

Recap of ACC Tournament Championships by Coaches:

1. Dean Smith, 13 (67,68,69,72,75,77,79,81,82,89,91,94,97)
2. Mike Krzyzewski, 11 (86,88,92,99,00,01,02,03,05,06,09)
3. Vic Bubas, 4 (60, 63,64,66)
4. Everett Case, 4 (54,55,56,59)
5. Norm Sloan, 3 (70,73,74)
6. Bobby Cremins, 3 (85,90,93)
7. Bones McKinney, 2 (61,62)
8. Frank McGuire, 2 (57,71)
9. Bill Foster, 2 (78,80)
10. Jim Valvano, 2 (83,87)
11. Dave Odom, 2 (95,96)
12. Roy Williams, 2 (07,08)
13. Bud Millikan, 1 (58)
14. Press Maravich, 1 (65)
15. Terry Holland, 1 (76)
16. Lefty Driesell, 1 (84)
17. Bill Guthridge, 1 (98)
18. Gary Williams, 1 (04)

Trivia question, what former Clemson Head Coach has won an ACC Tournament Championship? Answer: Press Maravich. Press was the Head Coach at Clemson from 1956-1962.

FSU defeats UNC 73-70

Check the excuses at the door....

UNC lost to FSU fair and square. UNC tried their best to defeat FSU, but it wasn't meant to be. I thought that Florida State deserved to compete in the championship, while UNC must now regroup for the NCAA's.

Great game! UNC controlled most of the first half, FSU controlled most of the 2nd half, and there was a sprint to the finish, with of course, FSU on top.

Would a healthy Lawson helped UNC? Of course, but Lawson wasn't healthy, and injuries are a part of the game. Injuries expose teams of their natural weakness: the bench. Great teams survive somehow. I don't believe this team is a great team. A pretty darn good team, but great? I don't think so. We lack depth, and our Freshman, sans Davis, have not produced.

Let's regroup and see if Roy and the gang have some magic left in them.

Survive and advance is the name of the game

So far, I'm 2 for 5 in my predictions. While my prognostication skills have been decent during the season, the ACC tournament has proven that I'm nothing more than an amateur.

That's O.K. If I had predicted the outcome correctly in all 11 games, the tournament wouldn't be much fun.

The Heels beat VT by 3, but anyone watching the game should believe that Carolina was lucky. We were lucky, but it wasn't due to bad point guard play. Actually, Frasor and Drew did a superb job at the point. They aren't Lawson, but who is, right?

While watching the game, I noticed that Danny Green was pressing way too much. He has lost his rhythm, but I think that's correctable. Danny must let the game come to him and not force his shots. Going 2-13 from the field is not acceptable. His defensive play was bad at spurts, brilliant at other times. He's a great athelete, but his game has to be part of the Carolina game.

So how did we win? H-A-N-S-B-R-O-U-G-H. He refused to lose.

Carolina played a decent game today. VT played a great game. VT is a NCAA-caliber team, but they will be going to the NIT this year.

The 2009-2010 Heels--a very early preview

Going into the 2008-09 Season, I thought we had a very deep team. I saw 11 players in the rotation, specifically Hansbrough, Thompson, Zeller, Davis, Green, Ginyard, Graves, Ellington, Frasor, Lawson, and Drew. Once again, expect the unexpected.

First: Ginyard is lost for the season.
Second: Zeller was lost for 12 weeks due to an injury.
Third: Graves was suspended from the team.
Fourth: Drew didn't develop his role during the season.

Right now, we are playing a 7-8 player rotation. Green, Hanbrough, and Frasor are graduating, and Lawson and Ellington may be leaving for the NBA. So who is left?

Next year, I see Ed Davis and Thompson starting at the Forward position. We have Zeller coming off the bench, plus we have 3 freshmen power forwards that will be in the mix: John Henson, David Wear, and Travis Wear. Between these players, we should be fine at our forward positions.

We will have Marcus Ginyard back. He will be our swingman and defensive specialist. Leslie McDonald can sub for him next year, so I feel good about this position, too.

At shooting guard, if Ellington doesn't return, we will definitely have Dexter Strickland playing, along with Leslie McDonald. We may even have Will Graves back, but that's still up in the air. I feel fine about our shooting guard prospects for next year.

The dilemma will be at the point guard position. If Lawson doesn't return, Larry Drew is the heir apparent. He's had a shaky freshman year, but I do like his defensive skills. His ballhandling, however, has been suspect. Averaging 9.7 minutes/game, Drew's assist to turnover ratio is 1.45. While that's not a bad ratio, this stat is misleading. In ACC action, he's had 19 assists against 23 turnovers. As a result, his minutes has dwindled during the ACC regular season. He averages only 7.4 minutes/game against ACC opponents. He's shooting less than 40% from the field, and only 50% on the charity stripe.

Does Larry Drew have the talent to play point guard against ACC competition? I think he's capable, but he will need to regain his confidence before the next season. What the Heels do not have is depth at this position. If he falters, the Heels may have to play Ginyard at the point, and to be quite honest, he's far from an ideal point guard.

Overall next year, we will have the depth, we will have some experience, and we will have solid coaching. The burden lies on Larry Drew. Drew is a fierce competitior, so don't count him out yet!

Playing an injured player--ethical dilemma

Will Ty Lawson play in the ACC Tournament? This is the $64,000 question. Should he play? That's a complicated answer.

During this summer, I played in a softball league with my Church. There were 10 teams in our league, and during the Regular Season my team finished 7-5. I'm not a horrible athelete, but I'm not a great one either. I am 37 years old, and I had not played competititve Softball since I was 25 years old. There's a big difference between 25 and 37.

First off, I am not as fast. When I was 25, I probably weighed around 160 lbs. Last summer my weight was around 185. Weight, especially fat, will slow you down.

Second, I might be a tad stronger at age 37, but my body's mechanics have changed. I used to have a rifle for a left arm, but now when I throw my shoulder aches. It's not muscle hurting, but it's probably a rotator cuff issue. I can still throw the ball into the infield, but it's not nearly as accurate nor does the ball have much mustard on it. I can still hit the ball, but I've become more of a "punch and judy" hitter. When I was 25, I pulled the ball over into right field (I'm a lefty). Now I prefer to hit up the middle with solid contact. I think my batting average was a tad over .500, which is not bad (nor is it really good).

During the season, I had numerous injuries. During the first inning of the first game, I pulled my left hamstring. I knew my leg was hurt, but I thought it was nothing more than mind over matter. Later that day I had to talk to some youth, and everyone was asking why I was limping. I told them my leg was cramping badly...I actually thought that was the case. It wasn't until 2 days later that I knew something was wrong. My wife noticed that the back of my leg was totally black. I had pulled a hamstring, and to walk on it was somewhat painful. I decided not to play on the leg the next weekend (couldn't if I wanted to). I came back the next weekend, and I was definitely slower than I was before the season started. My hamstring didn't fully heal until after the season.

In the middle of the season, I sprained my right wrist. My entire hand swelled up twice its normal size. I couldn't put on my outfield glove--it was too painful. Unfortunately our team had to play a double-header that weekend, and my injury occured during the first game. If I didn't play the second game, our team would have forfeited. Instead, I played the game right-handed. I played catcher (usually I played Left-Center or Right-Center). Everytime the ball reached me, I slipped off my glove under my right armpit and threw the ball with my left hand back to the pitcher. Unfortunately, we lost the game, but it wasn't due to a forfeit.

Going back to my point...there's a lot of criticism when a player doesn't play when they are hurt. Every injury is different, and I have no problem when a player misses a game due to an injury. Several people felt that Lawson should have returned to the lineup earlier last year, but I wasn't one of them. Ty Lawson is a strong competititor, and if he didn't play, it was because his body wasn't ready. In this case, Lawson's injury probably helped our team, giving Quinton Thomas a chance to play in game action. When Lawson returned, our bench was more solid as a result.

Injuries are a part of the game. Players know their bodies much better than their coaches or their trainers. Some people question a players "drive" when they don't bounce back from an injury, but I don't buy it. College basketball players push their bodies to the limit continuously during the season, and a person can't do that unless they have that "drive".

If Lawson doesn't play in the ACC Tournament, please accept the fact that he's injured. We should respect our players regardless of their condition.

As far as last year's softball season, our team was seeded 5th. We ended up playing in the Championship game, getting waxed by the best team in the conference. I played that game beaten up (I had a bone bruise on my heel that game--I looked like an old man out there). I went 2 for 3 in that game with 2 RBI's. My defensive game, which used to be my strong point, was pathetic. I'm ready for next season!

ACC Tournament Time

Who will win the ACC Tournament? Let's take a look at the matchups on Thursday night:

Clemson vs. GT. Clemson should win this game, but maybe it won't be a blowout. I give the Tigers the edge.

BC vs. Virginia. BC should win in a cake walk.

Maryland vs. NC State. Which Maryland team will show up? NC State has shown signs of jelling as the season progresses. I think the Wolfpack will beat the Terps.

Miami vs. VT. There will be major effort on both sides...an NCAA Tournament bid is within both program's grasp. Miami has the better talent, VT has the better coach. Miami will prevail


Friday games:

UNC will beat a tired Miami team. UNC will be hungry for a third ACC Championship.
Wake will struggle against a State team, but Wake should prevail in this hard fought game.
BC matches up well against the Blue Devils. I expect BC will defeat the Blue Devils in the 2nd half.
Clemson vs. Florida State. Probably one of the most physical games of the tournament. I think FSU is playing with more emotion, and they will end up victorious.

Saturday semis:

UNC will have the edge against FSU. Having Zeller will allow Carolina to be more aggressive within the paint.

Wake will have a letdown and lose to BC. BC will win the game with their savvy guard play.

Sunday Championship:

UNC avenges their first defeat of the season by taking out their frustrations against BC. Expect an exciting game from both teams.

Greatest ACC Coaches of all-time

Okay, it's time to discuss who have been the best ACC Coaches of all time. There are many great coaches, but only 10 of them will be on my list.

1. Mike Krzyzewski. 3 National Titles, 10 ACC Tournament Championships. Coach K's program has been to the NCAA's 24 out of the last 25 years. I don't believe he's done winning championships, either.
2. Dean Smith. When Dean retired, he was by far the best coach in the ACC. Coach K has won 7 additional ACC championships and a NCAA title. However, Dean still deserves a lot of credit. 2 NCAA championships, 1 NIT Championship, and 13 ACC Tournament Championships. Dean also recruited players who were good people, which is a rarity this day and age.
3. Everett Case. Coach Case was the father of ACC Basketball, winning 4 ACC Tournament Championships during his tenure. A solid recruiter, a solid coach, and the first true promoter of basketball in the South.
4. Vic Bubas. 3 NCAA Final Fours, 4 ACC tournament championships in his 10 years. He was the Dean Smith before Dean Smith.
5. Frank McGuire. 2 ACC Tournament Championships, 1 NCAA Championship. He built 2 ACC programs from the bottom and brought them to the National Spotlight.
6. Roy Williams. Roy is still rising in this ranking, having only coached the Heels for 6 years. But he's taking over a program that was at it's lowest level in the past 50 years and turned them into champions.
7. Bobby Cremins. Bobby won 3 ACC Tournament Championships and brought 1 GT team toe the Final Four. He was a great recruiter but was somewhat limited in his X's and O's ability. He developed a GT program that was in shambles and turned them into winners.
8. Lefty Driesell. Lefty only won 1 ACC tournament, and he never got Maryland in the Final Four, but he sure created a lot of excitement in College Park. Strong recruiter, probably an underrated coach, and a heck of a promoter.
9. Norm Sloan. Norm's not mentioned much these days, especially since his successor won an NCAA Championship. But Norm was a winner, with an undefeated team in 1973 and a NCAA Tournament Championship in 1974. Norm won the ACC Tournament 3 times.
10. Gary Williams. Gary rescued the Terps from the doldrums, and for a few years his team was definitely mediocre. But he kept on recruiting, kept on developing talent, and kept on going to the NCAAs. He won a NCAA Tournament in 2002, and the ACC Tournament in 2004.

I left off some coaches that I would include as Honorable Mentions. This list includes Terry Holland (Virginia), Bill Foster (Duke), Jim Valvano (NC State), and Dave Odom (WFU). In each case I considered the overall achievement of the coach and the subsequent results of their teams after they left. I didn't think Holland's resume was strong enough, Bill Foster really only had 3 great seasons, Valvano's tenure was inconsistent, and his departure left the program in shambles for the next decade (there is some parallel between Driesell and Valvano, but I thought Driesell's departure was mostly out of his own control). Dave Odom had a brilliant stretch for about 6 years, but his program couldn't sustain their winning ways.

Am I a good prognosticator?

There are too many variables involved in predicting the order of the ACC regular season race. But I think I did pretty well for an amateur.

Beginning of the Season, I predicted the following order. The final standings is in parenthesis:

1. UNC (1)
2. Duke (T-2)
3. Wake (T-2)
4. Miami (T-7)
5. Clemson (T-5)
6. VT (T-7)
7. Maryland (T-7)
8. Florida State (4)
9. BC (T-5)
10. NC State (10)
11. Georgia Tech (12)
12. Virginia (11)

I was basically correct on the top 3 picks, and was almost right on the bottom 3 picks (GT came in last instead of Virginia). Florida State and BC were the plesant surprises of the league, while Miami has to be considered a disppointment. The only teams I predicted that did not finish within 1 position of my original prediction were FSU, BC and Miami.

ACC Coach of the year.

Who is the ACC Coach of the Year? I thought I would go in backwards order for my selection.



12. Paul Hewitt. GT might be searching for a coach soon.

11. Frank Haith. His team will have to reach the ACC championship to have any hope of playing in the NCAA tournament.

10. Dave Leitao. His program is in shambles. The UVA players don't appear to enjoy playing basketball. He reminds me off Matt Doherty.

9. Gary Williams. He can coach a great game (remember UNC) and then coach like he doesn't care. I question if his heart is in the game. If he wins 2 games in the ACC tournament, I would consider Maryland for a NCAA berth. Most likely he just coached an NIT team.

8. Sidney Lowe. He did a decent job coaching the Pack, and he deserves another year at the helm. I can't imagine the alums will have much more patience with Lowe.

7. Dino Gaudio. I think he's a good coach, and at the beginning of the season I thought he might be NCAA coach of the year. However, his team struggled too long during the season, and I thought some of the problem could be directed to the coach.

6. Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K is a great coach, but I didn't think he developed his team as well as he did in the past. His team is basically a jump shooting team.

5. Seth Greenberg. Coach Greenberg is a solid coach. He does more with less talent than most coaches can. I couldn't rank him higher since his ACC record is 7-9.

4. Roy Williams. A 27-3 season would make most coaches perform backflips. Not Roy, and not with his talent. Defensive lapses are the only obstacle the Heels face in their travel for a national championship.

3. Oliver Purnell. Great coach, smart man, and he's become a master of developing a program. Clemson will be a team to reckon with as long as Purnell stays at Clemson.

2. Al Skinner. I thought B.C would be on the back bench this year. Coach Skinner proved me wrong. Great job this year!

1. Leonard Hamilton. I thought FSU was a team doomed to always miss the NCAA tournament. Not this year. Leonard Hamilton has done a great job with this program.


Congrats to Leonard Hamilton for winning HEEL FEVER's Coach of the Year!

UNC 79, Duke 71

Although Carolina won the game, I never imagined that the game would play out the way it did. I thought we would see major swings in the scoring margin, but it was just not meant to be. Why did UNC win?

1. UNC involved numerous players into the offense. Ellington, Hansbrough, Green, Frasor, Thompson, Davis and Lawson were involved in the offense.
2. UNC retrieved the rebounds. Duke was unimpressive on the boards.
3. Duke's game was the Singler/Scheyer show. Paulus didn't show up, and neither did McClure, Thompson or Zoubek. Henderson didn't play a good game, and Williams was marginal at best.
4. Bench play. Although Copeland played 3 minutes at the beginning of the game, UNC's bench would have still dominated if the regular starters were in the game. Davis and Frasor played solid games. Duke's bench played exactly 19 minutes, had 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block and 0 points.

UNC is clearly the better team. Duke can beat UNC, no doubt about it. But Duke can't beat UNC as long as UNC is playing its A or B game.

Duke vs UNC, Sunday March 8th 4:00pm

Another renewal of our rivalry. UNC won 10 games in a row, but stumbled against Maryland. GT didn't have the talent or the depth to hang with the Heels, and VT is just not as talented as our team. While some thought we played decent against the Hokies, I was not one of them. Our Defense lacks intensity, and our offense has lacked some movement of recent.

So who has the edge this Sunday? Duke hit a rough spot during the middle of the season, losing 4 of 6 games. They haven't played great since, but instead just good enough to win. I believe that Duke has improved since Coach K has allowed Elliot Williams to play more minutes. He's a solid guard who can hit his shots and play decent D. To be totally honest, he may be our biggest challange Sunday afternoon.

Key to the game:

1. Feed the monster. Psycho T will be playing his last home game, and he should be more psyched than usual. I expect he will score at least 25 points, if not more.
2. Take advantage of the double team. Duke will double and triple team Psycho T, so he needs to recognize this and exploit Duke's D. Ellington and Lawson must drain their 3's.
3. Deon Thompson and Danny Green must be involved in the offense. Both players have played brilliant in spurts, and both players can disappear in a game.
4. Limit turnovers. 15 should be the maximum we allow. We cannot allow sloppy interior passing to our post men.
5. Play Smart D. Stay between the basket and the dribbler. Play heady D. Our transition game works against inferior opponents, but I don't believe it works against the likes of Duke. Minimize the reach-in fouls.

I expect the game to have many ebbs and flows. Don't fret it when Duke has a 10 point lead, because it will probably happen. Coach K is a master technician of this game, and I have tremendous respect of his program. However, UNC has more talent, they have more weapons, and the intangibles of this game favors the Heels.

Prediction: UNC 91, Duke 87.

Hit me with your best shot!

I love Pat Benatar's music, and this year the song "Hit me with your best shot" rings in my ears. Several times this year the opposition has drained 3 pointer after 3 pointer against our perimeter defense. Why is the question.

1. Where's Marcus? Medical redshirt. Marcus was our stopper, but he can only do so much in a nice dress suit.
2. Ty Lawson's height. He's 5-10. Several big guards are 6-4 to 6-6, and they can easily shoot over Ty's outstreched arms.
3. Bobby Frasor has a new role on this team: defensive stopper. To be a defensive stopper, you have to be quick. Bobby's not slow, but he has lost a step since his Freshman year.
4. Ellington is not a good defensive player. He has improved, but he takes certain risks that put us out of position during the game. He does record some steals, but his play would be better if he was in front of the dribbler instead of being at the side. I like it when the defender is between the basket and the shooter.
5. Will Graves has been kicked off the team. While he was never a defensive expert, he did offer 10 minutes of fresh legs in the game.
6. Will Drew II can play some D, but his point guard skills are suspect. That's why his minutes are usually in the single digits.

We need to play smart ball. If we are fundamentally sound, our offense will usually win the games for us. Our Defense doesn't carry our team, but a lack of defense allows our opponents to win a game or two.

UNC 89, NC State 80

NC State played a very solid game last night. Javier Gonzalez lit it up last night, shooting 7-8 from the field, 4-4 from the 3 point land. I've been asked "why was Gonzalez loosely guarded in the first half?". Simple answer: we are not used to Gonzalez shooting as well as he did. Before last night, Javier has made 22 out of 60 shots, so he was an unproven quantity. He did have 5 turnovers, but I thought he was State's MVP of the game.

NC State is for real...they have a legitimate chance of finishing 8-8 in the conference this year. They should be favored to beat UVA and Maryland, and the BC game should be fairly even. I think they can pull it out against Miami, too. WFU will be their hardest test (really depends which WFU team shows up). The Pack beat WFU a week ago, so it may be hard to expect a sweep. Before the UNC game, I've not been impressed with Lowe's handling of the team. Last night I thought that Lowe outcoached Roy, especially with his gameplan to allow Gonzalez to shoot the 3 ball.

The Heels are rolling...I don't expect them to finish 14-2 in the conference, but the Heels have a legitimate chance of pulling it off. I'm worried about how Zeller's presence may upset team chemistry. Zeller played okay last night, especially since this is his first action in 3 months. He's weak on D, and his shooting touch is rusty. I expect Roy to play Zeller about 10-15 minutes a game, spelling Thompson, Hansbrough and Davis from time to time.

UNC plays at Maryland this Saturday. Maryland has some weaknesses that have been exploited by talented teams, including the Heels. The Maryland-Clemson game was a blowout--I felt that Maryland has mental lapses that allow the opposing team to make huge runs. Don't count out Maryland yet: they are still coached by Gary Williams. Gary is not a great coach, but he can motivate a team to play a great game. Don't forget the victory Maryland had against UNC in the DeanDome last year.