Two firsts with this:
1. This is the first time since USA Today took over the poll in 1991 that a team has been a unanimous #1 in the preseason poll.
2. UNC is also the first team to be preseason #1 in consecutive seasons.
Other than that, this is not a surprise.
The potential contenders behind UNC are: UConn, Louisville, UCLA, Duke, Pitt, Michigan St., Texas, Notre Dame, Purdue.
Yes, the Big East has four teams in the top ten. The ACC has four teams in the entire poll: UNC, Duke, Miami is #16 and the coaches are sleeping on Wake Forest at #24.
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I think that Duke is a VERY close # 2. The only loss that they may suffer will come at our hands. Same goes for us though. Remember, that number one seed in the east came down to our last game with them last year, before they got the painted area solved with additions of Olek and Miles. Sure, they had some pretty lenient officiating in some of those close games last year, but who’s to say they can’t count on that again this year? UNC is far above the field this year, with most teams getting departures while we collected a couple of McDonald’s boys.
I don’t mean to be too negative, but the firsts that you mention really aren’t that significant. Other teams could easily have these firsts had not their national championship teams been decimated by early departures. We happen to have a truly unique player of the year who loves college basketball and three returning underclassmen who tried but couldn’t get away.
Too me, this is just confirms my assertion that there is a bigger gap in talent between UNC and their contemporaries then there has been in my lifetime (29+ years). At the end of the day, that may mean nothing, but it certainly is a nice place to start!
And Chris, your point is a bit of a non sequitur. Sure, other teams “could” have done this, but they didn’t. UNC did, and by definition, that makes them unique.
“To me…” ugh…
It is a nice couple of factoids otherwise the post would have been about two sentences since we all knew this was coming.
It’s impressive and exciting.
Even Seth Davis is singing UNC’s praises…
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/seth_davis/10/30/north.carolina/index.html?eref=T1
I think that we’ll only know if there is a big gap between us and the other teams once (if) we play in the final 4. Last year we looked awful once we got to that level of competition. My guess is that we have 95% chance of getting to the final 4, and a 50% chance of winning the final game. I don’t think the gap is as big as you hope, C. Michael. Even in our league, the Duke games will be the usual tough ones, with minimal gap between the teams, especially playing at Cameron. This kind of talk is similar to what we heard a month ago when the football team was going 11-1. And I’m not so sure that SI singing our praises is good or bad…….in my humble opinion.
Chris,
Those percentages you state are astronomically high. Vegas has UNC as a 10-3 favorite to win it all, which is incredibly large, but still only 23%.
Pomeroy generally says the best chances of winning the title are in the 25-30% range. I think they had Kansas at 30% last season when the NCAA Tournament started.
I think you’re right. I remember thinking they were a bit high given the rosters of UNC, UCLA, and Memphis… but that’s why he’s Ken Pomeroy, and I’m just C. Michael!
Thanks for that link C. Michael! Getting Seth Davis on board was big!!!
Thanks for the percentages. They speak even more strongly to the fact that the “gap” is not that large between us and the rest.
Chris, I think as always, we are succeptable to a few ACC losses. Mainly Duke. But it seems to me we are above the ncaa field, probably more than I have seen in my lifetime (34 years old). Many of the great teams from last year have lost some primary players. Contrast that with the fact that our nucleus is a year older, and the superstar of the ncaa (Tyler Hansbrough) is a senior, and we have added some very impressive freshmen that could make an immediate impact on most other teams. Last year, I was afraid to bump heads with Kansas/Memphis/UCLA/Duke. This year I say, BRING IT ON!
As always, there are exceptions. A few injuries, and we could be singing a different song.
I’ll say it again, as I said that 11-1 was ridiculous for the football team: the gap between Carolina and the rest of the field is not that great. Yes, we have the best chance of winning the championship at this point, but this team is not so great that there is a huge gap present between us and everybody else. There are players and teams out there this year, as there are every year, that will come out of nowhere and be a problem. Tyler is a constant, and will be player of the year again. Ty played like a middle schooler in the final four….he’ll hopefully be healthy and play better this year when he runs up against NBA type competition. Will Wayne shoot well this year when it counts? Who knows? The point is that we can sit around and say we’re so much better than everyone else, C. Michael, when we really don’t know. Maybe we are. Maybe we aren’t.
Chris,
There is a huge difference between talent and results. On paper, UNC has far more talent then anyone any team in college basketball. This is commonly accepted as fact by nearly every basketball pundit alive. But, no one is sitting here saying they can’t lose. And to be fair, you are the one who quoted the 95% and 50% odds, both of which are far more optimistic than I would ever bet on.
Even in Chris’s pessimism, he still gives us a better shot at it than anyone. We must be good then. I happen to agree with Chris. There are still some things that are unknown. But hey, the rest of the world could be surprised at how good we are. The ncaa could see our dominance on paper right before their eyes. We could demolish teams by 20 & 30 points all the way to the final. That is still a possibility, as no one knows how good we are. I was optimistic about our chances last year, but really didn’t feel we were any better than Kan/UCLA/Memphis. The Kansas game is the only game I was dissatisfied with. The Maryland game would have been won if Tyler could have bought a few more fouls with all of that damn contact he had to put up with. I was pleased with their performance in that game. We just didn’t see the amount of free-throws we should have. But this year, I am not scared of any team. If we come out of the gates aggressive on defense, LOOK OUT!!!
Get well Tyler!
Get well Tyler indeed…
UNC just released a statement saying Hansbrough is out indefinitely due to a stress reaction in his right shin. Roy is expected to release a statement tomorrow.