ROBERT WILLETT - rwillett@newsobserver.com
UNC coach Roy Williams talks with his team in the closing minutes of play against Nicholls on Monday December 19, 2011 at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. UNC rolled to a 99-49 victory.
CHAPEL HILL -- The gap between North Carolina's last loss, to Kentucky, and the Tar Heels' ACC opener today has been a long one. Long enough for even the most determined fan to lose a little interest. Long enough that the beginning of the ACC season couldn't come soon enough.
If you hit the snooze button after the loss in Lexington - and no one should be held accountable for sleeping through the Nicholls game - it's time to wake up.
It's also wake-up time for the Tar Heels. They're 2-2 against current top-25 teams, which they haven't seen in a month and won't see again until February, but the ACC season is upon them.
"We all realize we have to raise our level of play," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "Getting into conference play, I know the guys will be excited. Hopefully it'll show."
And just in time. After a pair of Bojangle's specials - 100-62 over Elon last week and 102-65 over Monmouth on Sunday - the season was beginning to slide into obscurity for everyone.
It pays the bills, and it reduces the possibility of an upset as players' attention is drawn away by exams and the holidays, but the past month didn't exactly raise the pulse. Amid the seven-game winning streak, Long Beach State and Texas stand out, but the average margin of victory has been 30.6 points.
It's hard to imagine a less compelling run of games, although the Tar Heels certainly get credit for taking care of business.
"Even in those games when we won by 50, we did a great job for at least a few minutes in each game, doing everything we wanted to, getting to the places we needed to be," senior forward Tyler Zeller said. "Hopefully we can do that against these teams. Obviously, it won't be as easy, but hopefully we can grow on that and play for 40 minutes that way, as opposed to 20 or 30 minutes."
And now, the ACC season begins, although Boston College has more in common with the opponents the Tar Heels have just played than the other teams North Carolina will face in the conference. Among UNC's opponents this season, only Monmouth and Nicholls are lower in Ken Pomeroy's computer ratings than BC, which is 277th out of 345 Division I teams, but it's still a conference game.
Boston College may start five freshmen and is 5-9 with wins over New Hampshire, UC-Riverside, Stony Brook, Bryant and Sacred Heart. There's no question the Eagles will play hard, and they'll be well coached, but it's hard to imagine a bigger gap in talent or experience.
For most of the Tar Heels, that won't matter. All they see is an ACC opponent.
"For the freshmen it's going to be more difficult," Zeller said. "I know ACC play is a whole new level of basketball. You have to be more intense, more focused."
It does get more difficult: The Tar Heels host Miami three days later, and things pick up from there. For North Carolina, the meaningful games have returned. Finally.
