Tarheels Basketball

Tarheels Basketball...

...is a model for college sports. From the 1950s to the 21st Century the Tarheels have been one of (if not the most) preeminent and consistent teams in college basketball. Sure, UCLA had a long run in the late 1960s and early 70s, but UNC has maintained excellence for more than 50 years.

I grew up in North Carolina and attended UNC-Chapel Hill (but a graduate of George Mason University). I remember the triple overtime win against Kansas and Wilt the Stilt in 1957 for the national championship. I remember Dean Smith as the only person in the United States who could hold Michael Jordan to under 17 points a game. I recall the failed attempts to win the championships in 1977 and 1981.

Under Roy Williams, a native son, UNC won the 2005 NCAA title and this year the team is 17-0 at this point. UNC may not win another game, but the odds are they will be a major factor in the rush to the title this year. With Tyler the Terrible playing every play as if his life depended upon the outcome, the Tarheels have a chance to show the NE Patriots that a college team can go undefeated also.

That other team in Carolina who wears the other blue, not the Carolina Blue, but the dark foreign blue, isn't bad. It just "ain't" Tarheels!