This certainly wasn't the same Michigan State team we watched the past two weekends. But it was the same North Carolina team we all thought, back in November, was the best team in the country by a mile.
If ever a national championship game felt like a coronation, it was 2009.
There were reasons, over the past three months, to doubt these Tar Heels. There was Ty Lawson's bum toe. There was that weird and inexplicable loss to Boston College. There were memories of the way they went out, too soon, in the tournament the past two years. The 2007 collapse against Georgetown. The 2008 pasting by Kansas.
Somewhere in Michigan State's middle-class brand of Michigan hope and mixed martial basketball, and North Carolina's mechanized cavalry of an offensive attack, there may be a similarity or two lurking somewhere.
But you've got about as good a chance of finding it as you do spotting an opposing fan in Ford Field's South Pacific of Spartan green.
These two teams couldn't be more different if one of them came out in shoulder pads.
And, with Tom Izzo, who invited Vikings' offensive line coach Pat Morris speak to his team before Saturday night's win, and whose teams always play like it's fourth-and-goal from the one, that could very well be the case.
As discussed here earlier in the week, there was a way for Villanova to beat North Carolina. They had to do it on the perimeter, where they were supposedly strong and the Tar Heels were supposedly weak. They had to do it by exploiting Carolina's suspect three-point shooting defense and driving against the Heels' weak help-side interior defense.
This was all feasible. Anybody who's watched Carolina play for the past couple of years has seen the Heels go through scoring droughts and fritter away leads while they ignored defense entirely for large chunks of the game.
But a funny thing happened on the way to Ford Field. It looks as if North Carolina doesn't do that anymore. In fact, with a healthy Ty Lawson and an improved 40-minute focus, it looks as if North Carolina might not have any flaws in its game at all.
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Risking criticism that he acts more like a wannabe sports-talk caller than a fix-the-nation savior, President Obama -- Barry from Bethesda? -- filled out a March Madness bracket this week. Like the rest of us, he made a mad mess of the thing, reassessing and scratching out names. One of his original decisions, for instance, involved North Carolina losing to Pitt in the Final Four and Louisville winning the national championship.
But then, somehow, Obama went with a repeat hunch. Even though Carolina blew it for him last year, losing to Kansas in the semifinals, he's picking the Tar Heels again. "Now, for the Tar Heels who are watching, I picked you all last year -- you let me down," Obama said as he finished his selections for ESPN.com. "This year, don't embarrass me in front of the nation, all right? I'm counting on you. I still got those sneakers you guys gave me."
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Risking criticism that he acts more like a wannabe sports-talk caller than a fix-the-nation savior, President Obama -- Barry from Bethesda? -- filled out a March Madness bracket this week. Like the rest of us, he made a mad mess of the thing, reassessing and scratching out names. One of his original decisions, for instance, involved North Carolina losing to Pitt in the Final Four and Louisville winning the national championship.
But then, somehow, Obama went with a repeat hunch. Even though Carolina blew it for him last year, losing to Kansas in the semifinals, he's picking the Tar Heels again. "Now, for the Tar Heels who are watching, I picked you all last year -- you let me down," Obama said as he finished his selections for ESPN.com. "This year, don't embarrass me in front of the nation, all right? I'm counting on you. I still got those sneakers you guys gave me."
Generally, Duke students are not just loud, they're also funny. It's what distinguishes them from everyone else in the country. And not funny in a crude N.C. State-Maryland kind of way, but in an intellectually superior, extremely clever kind of way. Not on Wednesday.
Because Tyler Hansbrough is so dominant and because his will is so universally praised, it's fairly easy for other players on North Carolina's roster to get taken for granted. However, in seeing how dominant Ty Lawson was during UNC's 101-87 win over Duke on Wednesday, that line of thought may warrant rethinking.
Lawson guided UNC's offense to its most points against the Blue Devils since 1995 and scored 21 in the second half himself, helping the the Heels pull away from Duke. In doing so, he proved exactly why he is the most valuable player on UNC's roster this year.
North Carolina landed some tough news tonight, finding out that both Marcus Ginyard and Will Graves will miss the remainder of the season because of injury and suspension, respectively.
And while the news might have dampened spirits after the game, you couldn't really tell throughout a 108-91 beatdown that saw the Tar Heels hit 16 3-pointers -- seven from Wayne Ellington -- as they inspired an already exuberant Dean Dome crowd that showed up to see whether or not the Tar Heels could break a losing streak against a Maryland team that was suddenly slightly arrogant for no apparent reason.
In a game where Tyler Hansbrough scores just eight points, Wayne Ellington misses 10 of his 13 shots as the team shoots 38 percent from the field, embattled point guard Ty Lawson saved the day. His running three-point shot just as the buzzer sounds handed No. 6 North Carolina an 80-77 victory over unranked Florida State.
After a shot clock violation by the Seminoles, Lawson takes the inbounds pass and blew down the court to set up his game winning shot. Lawson's 21 points led the Heels as Hansbrough missed scoring double-digit points for the first time in 56 games.
The undefeated season went out the window when the Tar Heels dropped a "no way they lose that" game to Boston College. The national championship talk then took a hit when North Carolina was outclassed at Wake Forest.
So folks were understandably concerned about Wednesday night's matchup with 10th-ranked Clemson, even though the Tigers have never, ever beaten the Heels in the Dean Dome, Carmichael Auditorium, Woollen Gymnasium or anywhere else in Orange County., N.C.
No need to worry, apparently; Clemson's 0-53 record in Chapel Hill coupled with Wayne Ellington's 29-points-per-game average against the Tigers virtually guaranteed the outcome before tip-off.
Somewhere in Michigan State's middle-class brand of Michigan hope and mixed martial basketball, and North Carolina's mechanized cavalry of an offensive attack, there may be a similarity or two lurking somewhere. 
As discussed 
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Risking criticism that he acts more like a wannabe sports-talk caller than a fix-the-nation savior, President Obama -- Barry from Bethesda? -- filled out a March Madness bracket this week. Like the rest of us, he made a mad mess of the thing, reassessing and scratching out names. One of his original decisions, for instance, involved North Carolina losing to Pitt in the Final Four and Louisville winning the national championship.
FanHouse was on site for Duke-Carolina. And we have 
North Carolina landed some tough news tonight, finding out that both 
The undefeated season went out the window when the Tar Heels dropped a "no way they lose that" game to Boston College. The national championship talk then took a hit when North Carolina was outclassed at Wake Forest. 
