ESPN is jumping on the bandwagon early for North Carolina's football team.
The Worldwide Leader will televise the Tar Heels' spring game on April 10 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill.
With 19 starters back from a team that won eight games and had one of the country's best defenses, UNC will be among the favorites in the ACC's Coastal Division in 2010.
ESPN will televise other spring games, as it has in the past - notably for national champion Alabama, which drew more than 90,000 fans in 2007 for coach Nick Saban's first season.
Spring football has been a far less popular event at UNC. Last year's game, held the same day as the UNC men's basketball team played in the fourth round of the NCAA Tournament, was sparsely attended, with about 3,000 people in the 60,000-seat stadium.
Admission to the game is free. Kickoff is at 3 p.m.
The game also serves as early promotion for ESPN's telecast of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff on Sept. 4, when the Tar Heels and LSU open the college football season at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Get the biggest news in your email or cellphone as it's happening. Sign up for breaking news alerts.
It was late in North Carolina's 70-52 victory against Virginia on Saturday when the Cavaliers trimmed a 15-point deficit to 11, giving them hope of a rally with about four and a half minutes to play. 
Staff columnist Caulton Tudor weighs in on Duke-UNC scheduling, Atlanta's increasingly soft market, NCAA futures and 14-team tournament formats. 
Wednesday's loss to Duke left North Carolina's Tyler Zeller in such a dark-blue mood that Tar Heel coach Roy Williams felt compelled to try a to attempt a tonic of gallows humor. 
Hours after the Smith Center emptied and the cameras left, long after he and his North Carolina teammates went their separate ways, Tar Heels point guard Kendall Marshall lay awake in the early hours of Thursday morning with certain parts of Duke's 85-84 victory against UNC playing on a loop in his mind. 
Robert Orr, a Raleigh attorney who represented UNC football players Quinton Coples and Devon Ramsay during the school's recent NCAA-related problems, said Friday that the firing of Butch Davis and hiring of Larry Fedora as head football coach would not fundamentally change the chances of similar issues cropping up at the school. 
East Chapel Hill sophomore Ben Griffin was about 13 years old when he challenged a group of then-current and former University of North Carolina golfers. 
Remember when ACC teams began conference play about a month ago, and how it seemed like the road to the regular-season championship would be limited to a two-team race between North Carolina and Duke? Keep up with the latest sports stories with our free e-mail newsletters, delivered to your inbox!
Subscribe to Sports - it's free!
Subscribe to Hurricanes - it's free!
Subscribe to College Sports - it's free!
Subscribe to Duke - it's free!
Subscribe to ECU - it's free!
Subscribe to NCSU - it's free!
Subscribe to UNC - it's free!
Subscribe to Wake Forest - it's free!
Subscribe to Preps - it's free!
