North Carolina was No. 1 in the country and there was rampant speculation that the Tar Heels might become the first team to go unbeaten since Bobby Knight's great 1975-76 Indiana team.
Boston College was No. 11 ... not in the country, but in the preseason ACC poll.
But in a mind-boggling upset before 21,750 stunned fans in Chapel Hill last night, BC, a 22-point underdog, beat the 13-0 Tar Heels, 85-78.
BC led by as many as 15, but UNC stormed back. Would it be a repeat of last year? BC led by 18 early in the second half in Chestnut Hill but fell 90-80 to the nation's top-ranked team.
Nope, the Heels couldn't get closer than 4 (82-78).
The only thing it was a repeat of was the 1994 second-round of the NCAA tourney when the Eagles, who were seeded just ninth in the East Regional, toppled No. 1 UNC, 75-72. Dean Smith's defending national champs included Rasheed Wallace, Jerry Stackhouse and Eric Montross but Billy Curley, Danya Abrams and Co. did the unthinkable.
As the cover of Sports Illustrated blared after that one: "Take that, Tar Heels''
They took it on the chin again yesterday as Tyrese Rice pumped in 25 points, Rakim Sanders 22 and Reggie Jackson 17 for the Eagles.
Rice, a quicksilver senior All-ACC guard, loves playing the Heels. He had a game for the ages in the near-miss last winter, scoring 34 first-half points when he was 8 of 9 from behind the arc.
The talent disparity on paper was Wal-Mart vs. the mom and pop variety store. In ESPN's top 100 draft prospects (freshmen through seniors in college, plus foreign players), UNC had six on the list to BC's zero. No BC player had an offer to play to wear the famed Carolina Blue.
BC fans felt they owed the Heels after Catholic Memorial's All-American offensive lineman Brennan Williams committed to UNC over BC yesterday.
The hoopsters soothed that wound and then some.
BC is now 13-2, but they've played a collection of cupcakes — Bryant, Sacred Heart, Maine, St. Francis Xavier, and South Carolina-Upstate.
South Carolina-Upstate! Is that a school or a highway?
That's why the Eagles weren't even among the 44 teams listed in the AP rankings while UNC was unanimous No. 1 in the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls.
It's in the ACC charter that Duke and N.C. have to get all the calls, so the hosts did shoot 11 more free throws, but they were an icy 15 of 27. The fact that they hadn't won by fewer than 15 points this season may have worked against them as the Heels looked unsteady down the stretch.
They had three wide-open threes on one late possession and hit nothing but rim all three times.
UNC may very well run the table and win the national title, but somewhere Bobby Knight and Co. are toasting the upstart Eagles.
E-mail Michael Muldoon at mmuldoon@eagletribune.com.
