UNC defeated Illinois 75-70 to take home the championship. I joined 9,500 others at UNC's Dean Dome to watch the game... and what a game it was.

Jumping 9-2 in the opening minutes, UNC showed why it's considered the most talented team in the nation. Of course, this was tempered by a few minutes of retardness (UNC has a tendency to defeat itself with bad possessions and one-on-one plays by Rashad "Selfish" McCants who think he's better than he really is), but Terrence and I were incredibly happy to see that UNC had come to play.

Illinois was playing catch-up the whole game, playing the shoot-a-trey ballgame... our 1-3-1 and 2-3 zone was a surprisingly good matchup for them, but you cannot win championships by simply taking jump shots. I'm surprised they didn't use Dee Brown to try to penetrate more often ... whatever.

After the game and celebrating, I took off to Franklin St and joined 45,000 fans in celebration. I headed over to Han's house and hung with a few friends and revelled in the moment. After that horrid 8-20 season ... UNC has finally done it. We've restored the glory of the program. Thanks to the coach, Roy Williams.

The ESPN article almost made me emotional (although the past few hours could probably account for that).

Great job, guys. You pulled together when it mattered and showed the nation that you are truly the dominant team. Illinois didn't even look like a contender the way they played ... there was no dominance; just catch-up with whack-a-trey.

And this should put into any doubts what the elite basketball conference in the nation is; I hate the morons who said the Big Ten was making a 'good showing.' UNC single-handedly defeated the top three Big Ten teams (Wisconsin in the Elite Eight, Michigan State in the Final Four, and Illinois in the championship game). Can you think of ANY team in the nation that could defeat Wake Forest, Duke, and UNC in consecutive games? That's what I thought. Shut your face, doubters. No one will ever match ACC basketball.

Now, the big question is, "Who will jump to the NBA?" Championship teams have a tendency to lose players to the NBA (what else is left to acocmplish?)

Rashad McCants is probably the most likely to jump pro; he's always been a me-first selfish player. I was talking with Soob about this tonight, and we agreed that of our four possible returning starters (Sean May, Raymond Felton, Marvin Williams, and Rashad McCants), Rashad was probably the most replaceable.

I HOPE that Marvin and Sean May will stay (Soob says Marvin wants to develop for the 3, which makes sense)... if Felton stays as well, I just think that would be all the components necessary for another run. It'd be nice for May, Felton and Williams to get together and say, "Hey, let's write ourselves down in history and do a repeat title run." Everyone remembers NCAA tournaments; no one cares about pro ball championships. There's a purity at the collegiate level that just makes it more worthwhile.

I am exhausted. But I am so happy for our players. Thanks for the season.

images stolen for espn