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Among the most surprising lines in college basketball this season, none has been more shocking than the decline of North Carolina, normally one of the powerhouses of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the NCAA in general.

Their defeat against a fairly limited Boston College team on Saturday was their 10^th in the last 13 games, a run that started with an 82-79 collapse against the College of Charleston, one of their most embarrassing reverses in years.

The Tar Heels started the season ranked sixth in the nation and although they lost three games in their non-Conference schedule, those losses came to top teams in Syracuse, Kentucky and then ranked No 2 Texas, who have been on a similar slide since mid-January.

And it is no real excuse that North Carolina had been without Tyler Zeller for the last 10 games, since the key bench player had only been on court for 16 minutes per game until suffering a stress fracture of his foot, and Ed Davis for the last three games because of his broken wrist – things had already gone awry before then.


Zeller returned against the Eagles but managed to hit only two of his nine shots from the floor as poor shooting affected both teams, as would befit a matchup between schools who had won only six games combined in ACC play so far this season.

Nothing has gone right on court for the Tar Heels for most of the campaign as well, down to sloppy shooting and poor defense, and the defeat at the weekend made sure that Roy Williams’ men moved into their worst stretch in the last eight years.

Worse at the weekend was that the Tar Heels played themselves into a winning position early in the second half when they took a 46-39 lead, but BC rallied straight away to score 10 straight points and hold on when challenged in the final minutes.

So now there is little choice but to look forward to next season, when Basketball Bets might expect North Carolina to come in under the radar a little.

The problem? They will always have a reputation with Basketball Tips as one of the ACC’s giants, and if Davis goes to the NBA they will need freshman Harrison Barnes to be the real deal or it could be another season of struggles on Chapel Hill.

2009 North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball Schedule

Nov. 9      Florida Int’l         7:00pm
Nov. 11    NC CENTRAL       9:00pm
Nov. 15    Valparaiso           4:00pm
Nov. 19    at Ohio State       9:00pm
Nov. 23    Gardner-Webb   7:30pm
Nov. 29    Nevada                  7:45pm
Dec. 1      Michigan State     9:00pm
Dec. 5      at Kentucky 12:30pm
Dec. 12    PRESBYTERIAN    7:30pm
Dec. 19    at Texas                  2:00pm
Dec. 22    Marshall                 7:00pm
Dec. 28    Rutgers                   8:30pm
Dec. 30    Albany                    7:00pm

January 2010 North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball Schedule

Jan. 4      at C of Charleston    7:00pm
Jan. 10    Virginia Tech            7:45pm
Jan. 13    at Clemson                 9:00pm
Jan. 16    Georgia Tech             2:00pm
Jan. 20    Wake Forest             7:00pm
Jan. 26    at NC State                  9:00pm
Jan. 31    Virginia                        7:45pm
Feb. 4     at Virginia Tech        9:00pm
Feb. 7     at Maryland               2:00pm
Feb. 10    Duke 9:00pm
Feb. 13    NC State                      4:00pm
Feb. 16    at Georgia Tech       9:00pm
Feb. 20    at Boston College   12:00pm
Feb. 24    Florida State            7:00pm
Feb. 27    at Wake Forest        2:00pm
Mar. 2      Miami-FL                  8:00pm
Mar. 6      at Duke 9:00pm

ACC TOURNAMENT
Thursday-Sunday Mar. 11-14 TBD < Greensboro N.C. Raycom / ESPN TBD

 Time for the October 2009 edition of the 2009 preseason college basketball rankings. I’ve expanded the rankings to be a “Top 30″ this month plus 1 so Texas A&M Fans wouldn’t feel left out. The biggest change from the September edition besides adding six teams is I dropped Mississippi State significantly until we know for sure if Sydney is going to play this season or not. Anyway, preseason practice is just around the corner and we’re almost to the kick-off month of the 2009-10 NCAA basketball season. The following is how I hold the top-30 NCAA basketball teams heading into October.

2009 Preseason College Basketball Rankings 1-30

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 1 Kansas – Last Month: 1

Cole Aldrich and Serron Collins put the NBA Draft off for a year and lead the Jayhawks heading into the 2009-10 College basketball season. Kansas also brings in former Calipari-recruit Xavier Henry, and has Tyshawn Taylor and the Morris twins who are expected to significantly contribute this season.

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 2 Kentucky Last Month: 2

Coach Cal has been the biggest thing in Kentucky Basketball since…well, er Rick Pitino! Patrick Patterson put off the NBA one more year to return to lead the 2009-10 cats along with Coach Cal’s star recruiting class. Big things are expected out of freshmen John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, and Daniel Orton this season by Cats fans.

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 3 Villanova Last Month: 3

Scottie Reynolds coming back meant Nova enters the season as the Big East favorite. If the Wildcats frontcourt performs, look for the Wildcats to make a deep run in the 2010 NCAA tournament.

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 4 Michigan State Last Month: 4

Kalin Lucas leads the Spartans heading into the 2009-10 season. Coach Izzo will be relying on Delvon Roe and Raymar Morgan to be big contributors this season while State tries to make it back to the Final Four in 2010.

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 5 North Carolina Last Month: 5

Ed Davis is expected to have a big year for Coach Roy Williams. Other teams that lost the likes of Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, and Wayne Ellington would be rebuilding this year. With the crop of McDonald’s All Americans that have been “waiting their turn”, the Tar Heels will see their usual high 20’s/low 30’s win total this season.

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 6 Purdue Last Month: 6

Purdue has a lot of talent to challenge Michigan State this season. If they can keep Robbie Hummel healthy, they just might have a shot at the Big 10 title and beyond.

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 7 Texas Last Month: 7

Damion James and Avery Bradley will be leading the Longhorns in their battle to up-end Kansas this season.

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 8 West Virginia Last Month: 8

The Mountaineers have Devin Ebanks and Da’Sean Butler to lead them in their quest for the Big East title this season.

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 9- Ohio State Last Month: 9

Evan Turner is one of the best players in the Big Ten. If the State rookies perform, they will be one of the contenders for the conference title and beyond.

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 10- Washington Last Month: 10

Abdul Gaddy is one of the best point guard recruits to come out of the 2009 NCAA recruiting class. Look for him to lead Lorenzo Romar’s club this season to a PAC-10 title.

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 11 Oklahoma Last Month: 11

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 12 Tennessee Last Month: 12

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 13 Cal Last Month: 13

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 14 Connecticut Last Month: 15

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 15 Duke Last Month: 16

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 16 Dayton Last Month: 17

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 17 Minnesota Last Month: 18

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 18 Louisville Last Month: 19

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 19 Butler Last Month: 20

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 20 Missouri Last Month: 21

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 21 Miss State Last Month: 14

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 22 Michigan Last Month: 22

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 23 Kansas State Last Month: 23

2009 Preseason College Basketball –No. 24 Georgetown Last Month: 24

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 25 Sienna Last Month: 25

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 26 Illinois Last Month: N/A

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 27 Florida State Last Month: N/A

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 28 Syracuse Last Month: N/A

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 29 Georgia Tech Last Month: N/A

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 30 Florida Last Month: N/A

2009 Preseason College Basketball – No. 31 Texas A+M: Last Month: N/A

Dropped From Rankings:

N/A

Conference Pre-Season Rankings:

Overall NCAA Conference Rankings

Big East Preseason Rankings

Big 12 Preseason Rankings

SEC Preseason Rankings