UNC a 10 seed in the ACC Tourney

The Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament is all set (has been for a while now), and the Tar Heels once again have a new “never happened before” moment, as head coach Roy Williams will lead his North Carolina team (16-15 & 5-11 in the ACC), as a 10 seed, to play on Thursday for the first time ever. The opponent will be #7 Georgia Tech (19-11 & 7-9 in the ACC), a team that beat UNC by 2 at the Dean Dome and by 17 on their home court, and the game will be televised on ESPN2 with tip off time being 7:00 p.m. EST. And while people might be down on the match up, especially after the shellacking that happened in Durham this past weekend, I have to say that Carolina could still have a shot at this game. Like it or not, UNC has won 2 out of the last three, while GaTech has lost 3 out of the last four.

I am not going to start my preview on the game now, but I will say this, if UNC can play within themselves the Heels could win this game. But, this is nothing new, the team has to stay away from the turnovers and having the opponents get a run (or runs) against them. On the other hand the Yellow Jackets’ coaching staff has to get their players ready to play against a team they have beaten twice and that truly has nothing to lose in this one. Yes, in my opinion, after the loss to Duke last Saturday North Carolina’s only hope for post season exposure is the NIT and I doubt that when the tournament committee has a chance to get a team like UNC, good or bad season, they are going to say yes to it. Of course a win by coach Williams’ team will ensure them that they will finish the season with an above .500 record, and probably make themselves look better for the NIT’s. On the other hand, as I said before, after a season like this, UNC has nothing to lose.

With the tournament being held in Greensboro you have to believe that the crowd is going to be pro-UNC, and that could make the atmosphere Dean Dome-like, and when the two squads played there it was a tight game, and it was before John Henson began to progress in his skills. In the end, when it is all said and done, this should be a decent game if UNC can come out to avenge what happened in Durham last weekend. It could be ugly if that loss to arc rival Duke buried the team for good.