Well, of course.  You knew it had to be the national championship.  It doesn't exactly happen every year. If you're like me, you were extra-nervous. This was supposed to be the year.  The right combination of athleticism and experience, drive and heart.  This was a special year.

So you collect your newspapers, your Sports Illustrated covers, your DVDs, your Coke cans.

You'll remember where you were for this one. 

It's the sweetest memory you'll ever have.

Until the next one.

I will go out on a limb and say that Carolina will surprise Miami on October 30th. Yep. If I'm wrong, so what. But if they win, I look like a genius. I don't think Berlin has it together, and our DEs are getting after the quarterbacks more and more each week.

- September 24, 2004

It was a beautiful October night in Kenan Stadium.  It was supposed to be just another game in #2 Miami's road to national title contention once again. They were 6-0.  We were 3-4. They were Miami. We were Carolina. This was football.

It was supposed to be a cakewalk for Miami. The Heels had other plans.

Darian Durant to Mike Mason. Chad Scott. Scott Brumett. Chad Scott again.
The Heels were up 21-14 at halftime. They were knocking on the door right before the first half ended before an ill-advised Durant pass was intercepted. Jesse Holley chased down the defender and saved what would have been a touchdown if not for a Miami flag.

28-21 Heels.  You knew Miami was going to score. Again, they were Miami.

Too much time for Darian to get freshman Connor Barth in range.  42 yards.  Golden. Carolina gets a huge win toward bowl eligibility.

The biggest win in Carolina football history. Buy the DVD.  Listen to the remix. Appreciate it, because the first one is the sweetest.

By the way, I called the win a month prior to the game.  And I called the score an hour prior to the game. "It's going to be 31 to 28," I told Frank and Brett.  Honest.

Nick Horvath Revisited (Melchionni) hits that three to put Duke up 9 with under 3 minutes to play. You're doing what I'm doing.  Wherever you are, in the Dome, at home, at the bar, or in your car. You put your head down. 'Why can't we beat Duke?' No matter how good the Heels are in a given season, lately the Blue Devils have our number. They love to talk about streaks and however-many-out-of-the-last-15, but it really starts to get old. You don't want to drive home knowing we lost to Duke. You don't want to do anything knowing we lost to Duke. And no amount of throwing things will fix that.

Jawad gets a tip. Still seems a lost cause. Defensive stop. Marvin gets two free throws. Nelson misses the front of a 1 and 1. Okay. 73-68. May gets a basket plus one. 73-71. All of a sudden, it's not unreasonable. Raymond misses a runner. Ewing loses the ball at midcourt due to Noel's pressure (and probably some contact). Felton calls timeout with 27 ticks to go. Felton gets fouled on a drive. Makes the first. 73-72, Duke. Misses the second. The Blue Devils, with Shavlik Randolph having fouled out, have Patrick Johnson scrambling to grab the ball. He doesn't. Marvin Williams does. Shot. Bank. Net. Foul. Plus 1. Heels up 75-73. Redick misses, Ewing misses. May grabs the ball. Game.

ACC Regular Season Championship. How sweet it is.

Picture this:  The Heels are sitting at 3-4, needing to win 3 of their final 4 games to get to 6 wins and bowl-eligibility. Simple, right? Two of the four games are against Wake Forest and Duke. They're on the road, but definitely winnable. The other two are against Virginia Tech and Miami.  They're at home, but that's a definite "uh-oh." These are the two new ACC teams brought in to bring up the quality of football in the conference.  These aren't supposed to be winnable games.

But the Heels did win 3 of those 4, and went on to face an almost-BCS team in Boston College.  So they lost.  A trick play broke the Heels' backs.  But they were back in bowl business.  And it was good to get postseason workouts and postseason football.  Oh, and to see the seniors give it one last go in a Tar Heel uniform.

If you aren't an Ivory Latta fan by now, you haven't seen her play.  The sparkplug led the Heels with 26 points in an 88-67 romp over Duke in the ACC tournament final on March 7.

They'd played poorly in the first two rounds, just getting by Miami and Virginia.  But not so for the game against the Blue Devils.  I'd been worried that Duke would crush the Heels, who hadn't seemed to have their heads on straight for the tournament.  Perhaps looking ahead to the NCAA games in the Dean Smith Center?

The Heels shot the lights out, with even Camille Little (23 points) getting into the act from behind the arc.  Strong defensive play from Nikita Bell, La'Tangela Atkinson on the boards, and post play from Erlana Larkins with Leah Metcalf contributing off the bench.

It was a great day to be a Tar Heel.  The day after the men came back to beat the Blue Devils, the ladies followed up nicely with a huge win over a Duke team that wanted badly to beat the Heels.  Instead, they were badly beaten themselves.

HeelsBlog reveals who was behind the prank of the season.   more »

It was the game that would turn the season for two archrivals. On the night of October 9, the Tar Heels stopped T.A. McLendon on the goal line with seconds to go, causing a fumble and sealing the Carolina win.
On the play before, McLendon tried to burst through the middle of the UNC defensive line. A line judge on one end of the field had signaled touchdown, only to have the call overturned seconds later by the head referee and line judge on the other side of the field.
Head Referee Jim Knight ruled that McLendon's knee was down, and the official that made the original call could not see the knee from his vantage point.

N.C. State fans will forever disagree, but photos appeared to show that the ultimate call was right.
The Carolina students rushed the field, and the Heels had their first win over N.C. State since 2002, although it makes 9 wins out of the last 12.

State fans point to a video, but the one they cite is just  the second lunge McLendon makes after his knee touches down.

Check Andy Britt's column for further discussion.

It's a shame the game will always be overshadowed, as it was a classic.  But a W is a W, and it was one of 6 that made the Heels bowl-eligible this season.  The Pack would drop 4 of the next 5 and finish 5-6, out of bowl contention.

It should have been a let-down game.  After a heartbreaking one-point loss at archrival Duke, the Tar Heels had every reason to play lazily and lackadasically in a non-conference game at "neutral" Hartford Civic Center against #19 Connecticut.

Nope.  On February 13th, The Tar Heels showed renewed focus, winning 77-70.  Raymond and Rashad had 16 and 15, respectively, and the three-headed post attack of Jawad, Marvin and Sean helped combat UConn's frontcourt power.  I can't count the number of times Digger Phelps mentioned UConn's blocked shots.  18 was the CBS 'Stat of the Game,' yet everyone seemed to forget the Heels won.

The Tar Heels turned the corner on the ACC season and began the second half by getting a great road win against a great non-conference opponent.  They would go on to win out in the regular season, and the turn started in Hartford.

Sorry for the delay - I went to the awards banquet last night and didn't get home in time to post before going to sleep.  More on the banquet later.

By now, you know my stance on women's basketball; I love it.  I love having another Tar Heel basketball team to cheer for.  Especially one that plays so much like the men's team.  I love any Carolina team that goes 30-4, in any sport.

The Tar Heels won for the first time in 12 games against then-#1 Duke in front of nearly 7,000 in the Dean E. Smith Center on January 24th. They allowed Monique Currie and Duke to score just 13 points in the first half, then held off a late rally for the win, taking it 56-51.

It was an emotional win for the Tar Heels, who were slowly climbing up on the national radar.  Ranked 12th at the time, the Heels would eventually grab a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

They beat a bruising team that, like the Tar Heels, is reminiscent of its male counterparts.  Gail Goestenkors is a delightful lady, if I may be sarcastic for a moment.  She and Sylvia both work the refs as well as they coach their teams.

By all accounts, Duke should have run away with the second meeting in Cameron Indoor Stadium.  Nope.  The Heels rallied with 5 minutes to go and didn't look back, winning 77-68 in front of the delightful Cameron Crazies.  Duke was ranked #2 at the time, Carolina #8.

Sylvia Hatchell's Tar Heels began to turn the balance of power in ACC Women's Basketball this season.  Her quick, talented team earned the #1 seed in the ACC Tournament by virtue of sweeping the Blue Devils.  They were a fun team to watch this year, and the future looks bright.

HeelsBlog kicks off the Top Ten stories of the school year with #10.

He only played 19 minutes at home against Clemson.  And then a ' mysterious illness' sidelined Rashad McCants for four games.  Four games right in the home stretch of the ACC schedule.  Four games the Tar Heels had to win to secure the ACC Regular Season Championship and the #1 seed in the ACC Tourney.  And probably a #1 seed in the field of 65.
The Tar Heels could have packed it in and prepared for the NCAA tournament.  They could have just counted on Rashad to be back for March Madness, and coasted through the schedule.
But they didn't.  Senior Melvin Scott stepped into the starting role and provided some offensive spark.  He shot well at N.C. State.  He got a little of his swagger back after stepping into the lineup with no problem.  David Noel stepped up with more minutes too.
Tar Heels that hadn't seen nearly as many minutes were making the most of what they were getting.  The Tar Heels went 4-0 without Rashad, including a thrilling comeback against Duke.
If Rashad had stayed healthy, would Melvin and David had brought the confidence they did into the tournament?  We'll never know.  But we do know that Rashad's illness was just one more obstacle for this team to get over.  This national championship team.

Tomorrow, #9.  And HeelsBlog makes the trip to the basketball team's awards banquet.