Sports Thread #2 for 11/26/08: After Maui Victory, North Carolina Will Be Hard To Beat This Year

Photo from Associated Press

It is no question that the Big East this year will be the dominant conference in college basketball this season. When you have at least three of the top four teams in the country, such as Connecticut, Louisville and Pittsburgh, it is a testament to just how tremendous the conference is, from its coaches all the way to even its walk on players.

But the team above those three tonight is not for the Big East of course.

North Carolina showed why they are the sound favorites to give Roy Williams a second title at Chapel Hill, as they dispatched the number four Big East team in Notre Dame, who just isn't your average number four conference team.

The Fighting Irish, unlike their troubled football counterparts, are an elite team and will be a force to be reckoned with in the loaded East. Hence their number eight ranking of course. And in tonight's 102-87 lost to the Tar Heels in the Maui Invitational Final, it can be said that Mike Brey's side was clearly fatigued from their battle with Texas the day before, as UNC had an easy time against at overmatched Oregon team.

Nevertheless, even if Luke Harangody, who was clearly affected with various ailments for the entire day (Brey said he had the flu and an upset stomach), was at full strength for this game, and Kyle McAlarney duplicated his tremendous shooting display, North Carolina was always going to be the better team if they played their best. And that was certainly the case.

The balancing factor in this being true is just a lot at the point guards. With no insult intended to Tory Jackson, who is a quality 1-guard in his own right, really no point guard in the nation is as good with running and slashing than Ty Lawson in the college ranks. With Derek Rose, Jerryd Bayliss, and D.J. Augustine gone, Lawson has a slight edge over Darren Collison and Stephen Curry as the premiere point guard in the country in terms of being a pure distributor and playmaker.

Lawson had Jackson and the rest of the Irish on their heels tonight, setting the pace with his fifth gear speed whenever he had the chance to do so. That made the job easier for Tyler Hansbrough to finally shake off the early season rust from his leg injuries with a dominant 34 point, five rebound, two block shot performance.

With stars Lawson, Hansbrough and Wayne Ellington, the return of stable and efficient backup PG Bobby Frasor from his terrible injury last year, and the talented freshman duo of Ed Davis and Larry Davis II to name a few, it could be another banner hung in the Dean Doom this year.