Welcome back, sportz freaks to another edition of Z Money's Sportz Talk. As I noted in my last post, I will be doing two blogs tonight in order to make up for the lack of postings this week. Tonight I discussed Stockton's basketball season coming to an end, but I will now take a look at something else that has clearly come to an end: North Carolina's reign over the NCAA.
It was no surprise to many this year when the Tar Heels of North Carolina came into the season with substantially lowered expectations. This was to be expected, as they lost their main man in Tyler Hansbrough, as well as Ty Lawson. The core of their championship team from a year ago had gone on to the NBA, and the Heels knew that it wouldn't quite be the same this year.
However, no one saw this coming. The Tar Heels have fallen off in a bad way, having lost a mind-boggling 15 games this year, the most losses UNC has suffered in recent memory. And speaking of losses in recent memory, the Tar Heels capped off a miserable regular season plagued with injuries, with an 82-50 thumping suffered at the hands of arch-rival Duke. Now, as someone who follows sports religiously, I know that a game between Duke and UNC is never a sure bet, no matter who is favored, who is ranked in the top 25, and who has had a terrible season. The fact of the matter is that it's a major rivalry, one that some would put up there with the Yankees-Red Sox, and so all bets are off when these two teams face one another. That being said, I knew that the Blue Devils were in for a battle tonight when they hosted Carolina for Senior Night.
Or so I thought they were. Duke got off to a fast start, nailing three 3 pointers in a row, as well as three free throws off a foul outside the arc. Quickly it became a 20-7 game, and the Blue Devils were looking strong. Again, however, my sportz instincts kicked in. I figured that they'd cool off eventually, and that North Carolina would slowly climb their way back into the contest. Again, I was wrong. Duke continued to pour it on in front of the "Cameron Crazies", and put a beatdown on the defending NCAA Champions the way the #4 seed in the nation should.
But Duke has had its fair share of troubles in big games as well, and so a loss tonight would not have come as a surprise to anyone. Nor would a defeat somewhere in the early rounds of this year's NCAA tournament. That is why tonight's drubbing can be seen as more than just a big win over a huge rival, but perhaps such a large deficit can help to prepel the Blue Devils into March Madness with enough momentum to make some noise. With the win over Carolina, the Blue Devils now head into the ACC tournament with the #1 seed and should they win it, would almost guarantee them a #1 seed in the NCAA as well.
UNC, however, has just one path to the NCAA tourney, and that is by way of an ACC tournament championship. The Tar Heels will enter an astounding #10 seed, and will have to battle their way through a conference full of tough teams in Duke, Maryland and the suddenly surging Hokies of Virginia Tech. If the Heels want any chance to defend their crown, they're going to have to win the ACC.
Stay tuned next week as this conversation will get much more interesting. Once the Conference champions have been decided, we will finally get to see the field of 64 who will vie for this year's NCAA Championship. You can be sure that Z Money will be here to bring you every detail of the bracket, as well as my predictions for each one of the first-round matchups. Until then, keep on following here on Z Money's Sportz Talk, and be sure to come back next week as we get set for March Madness!
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