Opposites do attract. North Carolina and Florida will play in the men's college basketball national semifinals today at the RCA Dome, a game in which the opponents have nothing in common but their stark contrasts. They're a great basketball team and they always will be. North Carolina is North Carolina. But we're on the rise a little bit and we're looking forward to playing them.
Few programs are as storied as North Carolina.
North Carolina spent most of the season failing to live up to expectations. A preseason Top 5 team, the Tar Heels went 7-9 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and lost in the first round of the ACC tournament. They were cast as the No. 8 seed in the South Region, given little chance to advance. We can't blame anybody for writing us off or our fans for criticizing us because we deserved it. But we handled it well.