Teams: Syracuse Orange (15-0, 2-0) vs. North Carolina Tar Heels (10-5, 0-2)
Rankings: Syracuse (2/2), UNC (N/R)
Day & Time: Saturday, January 11, 12:00 p.m. EST
Arena: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY
Line: -7, Syracuse
TV: ESPN
Announcers: Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale
Radio: Syracuse IMG Network
UNC News: Tar Heel Blog
Rivalry: 4-3, UNC
Streak: 1, Syracuse
First Meeting: The two programs first met in the 1957 NCAA Tournament, where the No. 1 Tar Heels took on the upstart Orangemen in the Elite 8. Foul trouble doomed the Orange, who lost 67-58 despite 25 points from Vinnie Cohen.
Last Meeting: The Orange dominated the Heels at Madison Square Garden to win the 2k Sports Championship with a 87-71 win.
School Connections: I guess we'll go with the Jim Boeheim - Roy Williams connection. The two long-time friends met in the 2003 National Championship Game. It went well for Jim. Not so much for Roy, who had this to say about North Carolina after the game...
Head Coaches: SU: Jim Boeheim (38th Year, 935-314); UNC: Roy Williams (11th Year, 292-84)
Last Year: UNC finished the season 25–11, 12–6 in ACC play, good for third place. They made it to the championship game of the ACC Tournament where they lost to Miami. An 8-seed in the NCAA Tournament, they defeated Villanova in the second round before losing in the third round to Kansas.
Last Game: The Heels continued their trend of losing games they probably shouldn't by dropping one at home to the Miami Hurricanes (who are probably better than people think). Still, it's driving home that foreboding sense that this team's flaws will be it's undoing.
Head Coach Bio: You know Roy Williams, I don't need to explain too much. The UNC grad spent ten years as an assistant coach with the Heels before taking over the Kansas Jayhawks program and leading them to four Final Fours (you may remember the 2003 version). He then left to come back home and has led UNC to three Final Fours and two National Titles. He's currently the fourth-winningest coach in college basketball (710 wins), 215 behind Boeehim.
"Fear Me, I've Killed Hundreds Of Timelords": The Tar Heels are led by sophomore guard Marcus Paige (17.0 PPG) and junior forward James McAdoo (14 PPG ., 6.5 RPG). However, with SU's big men the way they are, the threat could come from Brice Johnson, who can score (11 PPG) as well as rebound 6.8 RPG).
If Syracuse Wins…: They'll be 3-0 in the ACC while UNC will be 0-3 and all will be right with the world.
If Syracuse Loses…: North Carolina will officially be the weirdest, most dangerous 7-seed of all-time.
Fun Fact: via HighSocks21, this will be the first time Syracuse and North Carolina play one another in a non-tournament setting. They have only ever played in the NCAA Tournament or 2K Sports Classic.
Fun Fact 2: UNC has an all-time record of 8-1 in the Carrier Dome, but only one of those games was played against Syracuse (an 87-64 regular season win on Dec. 10, 1983).