Merely a week ago Florida International, their coach Isiah Thomas and athletic director Pete Garcia were threatening to pull out of a preseason basketball tournament when they found out that they were going to play UNC rather than Ohio State. Forget that their contract specified that it was and either/or situation at the discretion of the organizers, they were taking a stand against being "bullied." They were standing up for the "little guys" in college basketball.
Yeah. So much for that. It's now about the greater good of the Coaches vs. Cancer charity that the tournament supports.
Florida International has not played a game yet under new coach Isiah Thomas, but the program is acting like it is already a player in college basketball. They are threatening to pull out of the 2K Sports Classic Tournament, which benefits the Coaches vs. Cancer charity, because they are no longer slated to be the road patsy for Ohio State. Instead they are getting sent to Chapel Hill to face North Carolina.
The Golden Panthers had agreed to play in the preseason tournament even before Isiah Thomas was hired as the head coach. It had been presumed that they would go to Columbus to play the Buckeyes. Ohio State had indicated on its Web site that FIU would be the opponent. FIU and Thomas referenced starting the season there.
The junior guards both are likely to go in the first round of the NBA Draft. Both nearly went pro as sophomores last season so the chances that they would stick around after winning the NCAA championship seemed slim at best.
Duke and North Carolina were separated by a single game in the ACC standings heading into Sunday; little did Duke know it, but they nearly had a chance to tie the Tar Heels again. However, games against Boston College and Miami, respectively, ended the wrong way for the Devils.
Boston College 80, Duke 74: The same problems that have plagued the Blue Devils all season -- point guard play as well as lack of an inside presence -- came into play again Sunday afternoon.
Generally, Duke students are not just loud, they're also funny. It's what distinguishes them from everyone else in the country. And not funny in a crude N.C. State-Maryland kind of way, but in an intellectually superior, extremely clever kind of way. Not on Wednesday.
Because Tyler Hansbrough is so dominant and because his will is so universally praised, it's fairly easy for other players on North Carolina's roster to get taken for granted. However, in seeing how dominant Ty Lawson was during UNC's 101-87 win over Duke on Wednesday, that line of thought may warrant rethinking.
Lawson guided UNC's offense to its most points against the Blue Devils since 1995 and scored 21 in the second half himself, helping the the Heels pull away from Duke. In doing so, he proved exactly why he is the most valuable player on UNC's roster this year.
It's not a stretch to say that Duke is not as good as North Carolina. And Mike Krzyzewski is usually not afraid of placating the media by sandbagging his own team or building up an opponent. So hearing him praise the Tar Heels after Wednesday's 101-87 loss to UNC would be no shock whatsoever.
But to see him speak at his press conference following North Carolina's dominant second-half performance, well, there was some apparent exasperation as to how far behind the Tar Heels the Blue Devils actually stand.
There are only four four-year players in the history of college basketball that have swept Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium for their career. Tim Duncan, Rusty LaRue and after Wednesday night, Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green.
North Carolina's win over Duke closes out a remarkable run for the Tar Heel star and reigning player of the year Hansbrough, and, love him or hate him, his dominance over his arch-rival is a pretty fitting addition to a cap that lacks only the feather of a national championship. The All-American forward downplayed the "record" and thinking about it before tip-off.
Herb Neubauer is a legend at Duke basketball games. You probably know him as "Crazy Towel Guy." (He got his own Wiki page, but it was deleted.) This is because Neubauer, an elderly gentleman and tremendous Duke fan, wildly swings his white towel at least once a game as the students cheer him on. He's so endearing, in fact, that he's basically one of them. So much so that he comes in the student entrance. Witness below, as he chugs a Monster energy drink, smashes it on the ground and freaks out.
It is one of the best rivalries in sport. Despite the presence of Dick Vitale, it is still a must-see game. That both teams are ranked in the top-six only adds to the excitement. Both have had stops at No. 1 in the polls. Both have designs on having a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament.
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Merely a week ago Florida International, their coach Isiah Thomas and athletic director Pete Garcia were threatening to pull out of a preseason basketball tournament when they found out that they were going to play UNC rather than Ohio State. Forget that their contract specified that it was and either/or situation at the discretion of the organizers, they were taking a stand against being "bullied." They were standing up for the "little guys" in college basketball.
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