Tarheels become ACC champions, gain top seed in tournament

How about them Tarheels! What a splendid finish to the regular season. Winning the ACC tournament on Sunday was icing on the cake and a great highlight to another special season. Clemson battled them and made it close down to the final minute. UNC slowed down the Clemson offense and hit the big shots in the waning shots. A three-pointer by Marcus Ginyard put the game out of reach. Tyler Hansbrough's contributions and hard work were huge, not for just the championship yet the whole ACC tournament. His game-winning shot against Virginia Tech was stunning.

With the Tarheel's 32-2 record they advance into the NCAA tournament as a no. 1 seed scheduled to play most of their games in Charlotte, North Carolina. Coach Roy Williams doesn't believe they have a distinct advantage with the home court to their credit. He thinks it's all about how successful they are on the court, speaking from experience as his 1995 Kansas team made to the 3rd round in Kansas City and lost to Virginia. It really comes down to momentum in the second half unless a team is getting blown out and has no chance at a comeback. The Tarheels will have plenty of supporters packed in the seats. Energy from the crowd won't be a problem.

UNC joins Memphis, Kansas, and UCLA as no. 1 seeds entering the tournament. I know there will be a couple of big upsets. I'll have to look over the bracket again to make my picks since there are some tough matchups. I don't see the Heels running into any major challenges until at the least the Sweet Sixteen. With Ty Lawson back running the offense and the bench playing well I like their chances. One thing I'd like to see more of though is Hansbrough getting more foul called in the paint. He's got whacked several times and not be granted trips to the free-throw line. The refs better call it like they see it in the tournament or else they should be thrown out the game.