A little more than a year ago in Jacksonville, Fla., the Arkansas Razorbacks lost their second-round NCAA Tournament game to North Carolina, 87-78.
After the game, our man Bob Holt remarked, "If North Carolina stays healthy, no one transfers or leaves early for the NBA, it is going to be a very good team."
The Tar Heels stayed healthy, and they are a very good team that won the ACC's regular-season and tournament titles.
The ACC is to basketball what the SEC is to football. The ACC is the king of the basketball hill.
Last year, Duke won the whole thing.
Today, four ACC teams will play each other, in what has been dubbed as the ACC Invitational, to see which two advance to the Final Four in Houston. That's half the field from one conference, and it guarantees the ACC will have a representative in the championship game.
Virginia is favored over Syracuse by eight points and won its only meeting with the Orange, 73-65. The Orange were somewhat of a controversial selection at a No. 10 seed because they had the highest RPI of any at-large team at 72.
No one has had an easier road to the Elite Eight than Syracuse, which opened the tournament by beating No. 7 seed Dayton, then No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee. On Friday night, it bested No. 11 seed Gonzaga.
The Midwest Region had more upsets than any of the regions, and the Orange were in the right place at the right time.
But as so often is the case in March, Syracuse's 2-3 zone defense has become a big orange tidal wave, and the Orange are one of six teams left that could win the national championship.
Today's replay of any given week in the ACC may not help TV ratings, but it should be great basketball, especially the second game, when Notre Dame and North Carolina meet for the third time. They split the first two, with Notre Dame winning at home and North Carolina taking the ACC Tournament semifinal rematch.
Notre Dame stole one from Wisconsin on Friday night, and while Fighting Irish Coach Mike Brey claimed no one can beat Notre Dame on Good Friday or Easter, it probably had more to do with Wisconsin panicking than divine intervention.
With 26 seconds left, Wisconsin led 56-53 only to suffer two turnovers and miss a closely guarded layup, allowing Notre Dame to go on an 8-0 run to advance.
It wasn't a meltdown like Northern Iowa against Texas A&M, but it was still an ugly ending for the Badgers.
Notre Dame may need some Easter luck because North Carolina, favored by 10, has been a team that is surging at the right time.
If Tar Heels were a 3-year-old getting ready to run in Oaklawn's Rebel Stakes, you would say their speed figures show an improving horse.
In their opening game, the Tar Heels won 83-67 over No. 16 seed Florida Gulf Coast. They followed that by scoring 85 points against No. 9 seed Providence and holding the Friars to 66.
Friday night in a high-scoring affair, they beat No. 5 seed Indiana 101-86. Only two teams have topped 100 points in this tournament: Kansas was the other, and that was in the Jayhawks' opening game against No. 16 seed Austin Peay.
Earlier in the season, North Carolina Coach Roy Williams struggled a bit with his lineup, but once he made up his mind to stick with two seniors, a junior and two sophomores, the Tar Heels have been running and gunning, especially in the NCAA Tournament.
Virginia, a No. 1 seed, should get its ticket to the Final Four punched first. By bedtime tonight, North Carolina will have set up a rubber match with the Cavaliers.
The ACC comprises half the field in the Elite Eight and the Final Four because it deserves it.
Sports on 03/27/2016