Chansky’s Notebook: Are You Ready?

Will the Tar Heels bring home their sixth NCAA title?

Not very often does the national championship come down to the last two teams being the best two teams. But after Saturday’s semifinals, which must have had fans turning off their TVs by the millions, there is no doubt that Carolina and Villanova, the last two, are the best two. They established that beyond doubt by, respectively, beating Syracuse a third time this season and embarrassing Oklahoma.

This game has so many angles it ought to be played in the eight-sided Dean Smith Center. Among them, it is the first NCAA championship game that has pitted two brothers against each other. UNC’s Nate Britt against Villanova’s Kris Jenkins, whom the Britt family adopted at an early age. Britt has become a reliable back court sub for the Tar Heels while Jenkins is a 6-6 starter who averages 13 points and four rebounds for the Wildcats. Both are juniors, but Jenkins is projected as an NBA player who may decide to enter the draft after this season concludes tonight.

Villanova has won a previous national title, the memorable 1985 shocker over defending NCAA champion Georgetown in which the Wildcats set the Final Four record by shooting 78 percent from the floor. They nearly matched that Saturday by hitting 71 percent of their shots against an Oklahoma defense that clearly quit in the second half of the 95-51 beat down. Villanova doesn’t usually shoot anywhere near that well but is balanced with five players averaging in or close to double figures.

Carolina has won the NCAA Tournament five times, and Roy Williams looks to take a third team to the title. But Ol’ Roy has never had a group that has come so far so fast since an uneven regular season in which it still finished first in the ACC but then ran off nine straight victories with balanced scoring and vastly improved defense. How the Tar Heels shut down the Syracuse offense was the key to taking over that game and holding off any Orange comeback down the stretch.

Brice Johnson is their statistical star, but Carolina can kill you in four or five different ways – offensive rebounding, scoring in the paint, timely outside shooting and in your grill defense. No reason to think that won’t continue on the biggest stage tonight. Get ready for another celebration.