Hansbrough, Tar Heels Roll UVA; People Need to Settle on Crowning Them

Thinking that the Virginia Cavaliers might have contended with North Carolina Thursday night seems kind of silly in hindsight, but for the first 18 minutes of the game, it at least seemed mildly plausible. Well, okay, it was more like Carolina was somehow 0-2 in the ACC, reeling off of losses to Boston College and Wake Forest, and the faint possibility of an 0-3 nightmare existed for the Heels.

It wasn't the case. Obviously. Tyler Hansbrough, despite shooting poorly from the floor, still managed to pass Christian Laettner for sixth all-time in ACC scoring (please don't get me started on who's more awesome between the two of those guys).

What does this mean specifically? It means that we can all -- and by "all" I mean, again, "everyone who didn't pick Wake Forest to win the national championship" (Note: you will see that link no less than 4,000 times this season) -- get right back aboard the Chapel Hill bandwagon. It didn't take Jay Bilas long; he's already posted on the WWL that Hans-brah is his POY ... again. And you'll never believe this, but rumor has it that his "will exceeds his skill."

Of course, the smart thing is to realize that it's not all Psycho T for the Tar Heels; Ty Lawson protected the ball and was significantly better from the floor than he was in the Heels' two losses and, well, Virginia's not that good. At all.

Which, if you think about it, is kind of scary for Carolina. Yes, Marcus Ginyard is still out, but when Deon Thompson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green combine for 11-for-29 from the field against the Wahoos, it's probably a little too early for everyone to jump up and pronounce the baby blues completely cured.

The truth is that it behooves the national media to pump up Carolina, especially when 95 percent of the people screaming at you from the television picked the Heels to win it all. And maybe they are "back" ... but aside from Clemson, they've got a pretty cushy sked between now and a Feb. 11 showdown at Cameron. Just want to throw that out there.