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NEW YORK - MARCH 30: Lamonte Ulmer #15 of the Rhode Island Rams reacts on the ground after losing control of the ball in the final seconds against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Madison Square Garden on March 30, 2010 in New York, New York.

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For all the marbles. Except for 65 other, more important marbles.

New York has been battered by rain today. Hope the Heels play better in this weather than the blizzard back in February.

Win in Birmingham, head to New York.

Here's the thing I find most fascinating about today's game. Mississippi State leads the nation in blocks per possession. (UNC, for the record, is 18th.) Now, a lot of that is Jarvis Varnado, 4th in the nation in that category. But the rest of the team also does pretty well, because they have enough tall guys to get out on the perimeter. But UNC rarely shoots from the perimeter, and State's tallest player (Varnado) is only 6'9", pretty small by UNC's standards. The Bulldogs also don't generate much in the way of turnovers, either. And the 3rd best shot-blocker in the country is Rutgers' Hamady Ndiaye; Carolina held him to only two blocks in limited play.

Mississippi States three-point shooting will be the other big thing. They'll attempt almost as many as William & Mary; a quick start from behind the arc and UNC will find themselves in a familiar hole, one they've had trouble digging out of. But mainly, I want to see Thompson and Zeller step up and contain Varnado. It's time they stepped up defensively.

To quote a friend, "I think we got William's number, I just hope Mary does not light us up from downtown. She got game." Time to reinvigorate Carmichael.

Well, after this morning it's quite clear I know nothing about basketball. Perhaps you'd like to try the mothership, instead?

Here's hoping UNC can continue the lower-seed trend Miami and a Sylvan Landesberg-less Virginia have started.

Oh, we don't give a damn about Duke University, 
Duke University, Duke University
We don't give a damn about Duke University
'Cause we're from Car-o-li-na.

Senior Day with the 2,00th win on the line. That's a little bit more pressure than I'd like for this team to be under during what should be a pretty unremarkable game. The good news is that the game's at eight and not seven, and there's no threat of snow, two things that most contributed to the lack of a home crowd at the Florida State game.

You may look at Wake and say, "8-5? This is doable." Unfortunately, all five of those losses are on the road; Wake is undefeated in conference at home. They've only won two ACC games outside of Lawrence Joel. One of those was the 13 point win in Chapel Hill. Expect UNC to score less than Williams' blood pressure. Diastolic, even.

You heard it here first. This will be the most turnover-prone, blockiest, chaotic thing on the court this season. If I can't enjoy a win, at least I can revel in a catastrophe.