2010-2011 ACC Preview

#2: North Carolina

Games against 2010 NCAA Tournament teams: 11
Best non-conference game: Dec. 18 vs. Texas (in Greensboro)

Projected Starting Five:
F - Tyler Zeller (Junior)
F - Harrison Barnes (Freshman)
F - John Henson (Sophomore)
G - Dexter Strickland (Sophomore)
G - Larry Drew III (Junior)

In this preseason, the subject of the most debate in the ACC is the placement of North Carolina. There are many people who insist that Carolina is ranked too high, and point to last year's results as an example. My response to those people is this: at the end of the day, it is still North Carolina. They have all the championship banners hanging in the rafters for a reason. They are still able to recruit elite talent and perform at a high level.

So let's take a look at this year's team. There were some unexpected departures, like the Wear twins and Will Graves. That certainly will hurt the depth. But they do have a lot of talent, especially on the interior. Harrison Barnes is expected to be a freshman who comes in and contributes right away. John Henson is lean but a very athletic forward who had a great second half of last season. Tyler Zeller has never really come into his own at UNC, battling injuries, but has a chance to put up a good season. UNC is not quite as talented in the backcourt. Larry Drew is an okay point guard who is really more of a team manager than a big scorer. And beyond him there isn't much in the way of scoring.

As always, UNC has put together a pretty tough schedule. It will be interesting to see how they fare in the Puerto Rico Tipoff. They will play either Western Kentucky or Minnesota in the second round, and could play West Virginia in the final. UNC also has a road game at Illinois and home game against Kentucky, and a neutral site game against Texas. If Barnes is as good as many say he is, and Zeller takes a step forward, then UNC is in position to be a national power once again.