TAR

Everyone and his brother, including my esteemed colleague David Steele, believes North Carolina has this championship in the bag. Even the president picked it in his ESPN bracket, and other than Maryland, the Tar Heels are the only Atlantic Coast Conference team that didn't totally embarrass the commander in chief. But you know who is going to cut down the nets Monday? Connecticut. And even if the Huskies have to give this title back in a few years if we find out they were all represented by agents, it won't change the fact that right now, they're playing with purpose and playing the best basketball in America.

COLLEGE PARK -Two years ago, then-freshman Landon Milbourne watched with amusement as Maryland fans rushed the Comcast Center floor, toppling courtside seats in the process, to celebrate an 89-87 victory over fifth-ranked North Carolina. "It was crazy," Milbourne recalled yesterday. "It's one of those reasons you came to Maryland - so you can play in games like that." As the Terrapins prepared to play third-ranked North Carolina today, the image of fans wildly celebrating was a useful one for them to embrace.

No. 9 Navy led from start to finish yesterday, as the Midshipmen defeated No. 16 North Carolina (3-1) 19-8 at Navy Marine Corps Stadium, before 5,125 . The Midshipmen improved to 3-0 while the Tar Heels lost their first game after opening with three wins for the first time since 2002. Nick Mirabito and Ian Dingman each had three goals for the Midshipmen, while Ben Hunt led the Tar Heels with three goals and Sean Burke had two goals and two assists. Navy outscored the Tar Heels 5-2 in the second quarter.

Bobby Hurley remembered the meetings that Duke coach Mike Krzyzew- ski had with his Blue Devils in the days leading up to the 1991 Final Four and their NCAA tournament semifinal game against unbeaten Nevada-Las Vegas.It had been a year since the Runnin' Rebels had crushed Duke by a record 30 points in the NCAA final in Denver."He kind of told us early in the week that we shouldn't listen to what he was saying during the press conferences," Hurley recalled recently.Publicly, Krzyzewski was saying how impossible it would be for Duke to beat a team that had won all 34 of its games, only two of them by single digits.

Ademola Okulaja's three-pointer with 1.4 seconds remaining gave No. 14 North Carolina a 67-66 victory over Virginia yesterday in Charlottesville, Va.The Tar Heels, who swapped leads with the Cavaliers 10 times in the half, had fallen behind 65-64 on Adam Hall's three-pointer with 49 seconds left. A free throw by Chezley Watson gave the Cavaliers a two-point edge, but when he missed the second with 14.3 seconds left, it left the door open.Okulaja spotted up in the right corner, took a pass from Ed Cota and nailed the shot to clinch third place in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the Tar Heels (21-7, 9-5)

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Dick Vitale. Billy Packer. Digger Phelps. They all picked Maryland to go to the Final Four.Penn's Fran Dunphy. Villanova's Steve Lappas. George Washington's Tom Penders. They all picked Maryland, too, even if they were playing to the crowd during a telecast from Baltimore's ESPN Zone."I guess they weren't on the committee," Maryland coach Gary Williams said yesterday, joking about all his new best friends.The NCAA tournament selection committee made Auburn the No. 1 seed in the South Regional, but everyone else seems to love No. 2 Maryland.

Coaches on the hot seat1. Frank Solich, Nebraska: Even though he's undefeated after one game, Solich will be in the shadows of Tom Osborne until he wins his first national championship.2. John Cooper, Ohio State: A No. 1 preseason ranking only turned up the pressure gauge. Nothing less than a national championship will satisfy crazed Buckeye fans.3. Terry Bowden, Auburn: The honeymoon is over, and his team's off-field problems since last season contributed to Bobby's son losing 25 pounds.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- He now has an unlisted telephone number. His office still has more of Dean Smith's mementos than his own. Bill Guthridge wanted neither, and relishes the day when he can go back to his previous life of blissful anonymity.The way things are going here, it will likely not be for a while.When Smith suddenly retired last October as the legend-in-residence of the North Carolina basketball program, Guthridge was thrust just as quickly into a spotlight he had managed to avoid for the past 30 years.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The road to the Final Four opened wide for North Carolina last night, but only after the Tar Heels navigated through the congested traffic lanes at the Carrier Dome.Getting a huge second-half lift from Antawn Jamison, their 6-foot-9 sophomore forward, the top-seeded Tar Heels advanced the East Regional championship game with a 63-57 victory over fifth seed California before 30,617.Jamison helped erase a seven-point, second-half deficit by scoring 12 consecutive Carolina points.

COLLEGE PARK -- Haunted by the second biggest collapse in Atlantic Coast Conference history, Antawn Jamison put North Carolina's bitter January loss to Maryland behind him at last yesterday.The splendid 6-foot-9 power forward completed his own personal exorcism with 29 points, 10 rebounds and a 93-81 victory over the Terps at sold-out Cole Field House.Now, perhaps, the memory of that Jan. 8 loss in Chapel Hill, when the Tar Heels kicked away a 22-point lead in the final 14 1/2 minutes, won't hurt as much.

Once Jacory Harris settled down and Miami's defense got rolling, the Hurricanes found the right combination for their biggest win in years. And for Sam Bradford-less Oklahoma, it was just another frustrating trip to South Florida. Harris survived a shaky start to throw three touchdown passes, Javarris James ran for a career-high 150 yards against the nation's top rush defense, and No. 17 Miami knocked off No. 8 Oklahoma 21-20 on Saturday night - in what will join some games from the 1980s as another Hurricanes-Sooners classic.

One thing is for sure when No. 1 Northwestern meets fifth-ranked North Carolina on Sunday evening for the NCAA Division I women's lacrosse championship - there won't be any snow. When the two teams met in Chapel Hill in March, their first attempt to play was rained out. Their second went on despite a couple of inches of snow overnight, temperatures in the 30s and wind - weather more akin to the Wildcats' home on the shore of Lake Michigan. The Wildcats apparently didn't mind; they won, 12-7.

Maryland will have to wait a little longer for a shot at another women's lacrosse championship. North Carolina spoiled the Terrapins' bid for a perfect season and their chance for a 10th national title Friday night with big defensive plays in the final minutes and the game-winning goal by Laura Zimmerman for an 8-7 victory in the NCAA Division I women's lacrosse semifinals before 7,549 at Johnny Unitas Stadium at Towson University. The No. 2 Terps (21-1) were aiming for a showdown of unbeaten teams with No. 1 and four-time defending champ Northwestern.

At 5 feet 4, Amber Falcone doesn't look all that imposing for a lacrosse defender - until you watch what the North Carolina senior can do to an opponent. "I always say she's 5-foot-4 playing like 6-foot-4. She is really tough," said Courtney Vaughn, her high school coach at Winters Mill. Other than height, Falcone is blessed with every asset to be a top defensive player in NCAA Division I women's lacrosse. She's physically strong and has great speed, superb instincts and no off switch.

No. 1 Northwestern (21-0) vs. No. 4 Pennsylvania (15-2) When: Friday, 6:30 p.m. Outlook: The Wildcats won the title last season, 10-6, over Penn, but the Quakers are the last team to beat the four-time defending champs, on April 27, 2008. The Wildcats have won 27 straight since. A goal-scoring machine, Northwestern needs just eight goals to break the Division I single-season record of 380 set last season by Syracuse. A lot of that offense starts with Hannah Nielsen (59 goals), the 2008 Tewaaraton Trophy winner who has an NCAA-record 75 goals this season as well as a career record 216. She had seven points in the regular-season 11-9 win over the Quakers.

DETROIT -Ty Lawson had quite a month. His toe injury panicked thousands. His casino winnings appalled the pious. But nothing could match his Monday. "Never in a million years," he said, "would I think I'd get the Point Guard of the Year and win the national championship." Lawson collected the personal hardware, the Cousy Award, in late morning. Come prime time, he tormented Michigan State and led North Carolina to its fifth NCAA men's basketball title. Neither distinction is debatable.

DETROIT -College basketball hasn't feted an undefeated champion since Indiana in 1976. The last team to even enter the NCAA tournament unblemished was Nevada-Las Vegas in 1991. History and context, however, became roadkill when Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green resisted the NBA and returned to North Carolina this season. "We were anointed," coach Roy Williams said. Not for the Final Four. Not for a championship. For perfection. Predictably, the Tar Heels stumbled.

Sporting stylish eyewear and lounging on a doctor's exam table, North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson embodied fashion and relaxation the day before the Tar Heels' second-round NCAA tournament game. As Lawson held court with reporters, his teammates couldn't hide their amusement. Lawson's vision? Crystal clear. His injured big toe? Likely healed. The glasses and table? Completely unnecessary. In three subsequent games, Lawson has proved just how necessary he is to North Carolina's national championship hopes.

Everyone and his brother, including my esteemed colleague David Steele, believes North Carolina has this championship in the bag. Even the president picked it in his ESPN bracket, and other than Maryland, the Tar Heels are the only Atlantic Coast Conference team that didn't totally embarrass the commander in chief. But you know who is going to cut down the nets Monday? Connecticut. And even if the Huskies have to give this title back in a few years if we find out they were all represented by agents, it won't change the fact that right now, they're playing with purpose and playing the best basketball in America.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Blake Griffin had just made the play of the game, and perhaps this NCAA tournament, an extraterrestrial - he reached into the heavens - one-handed dunk of Austin Johnson's lob pass. But Ty Lawson countered in less than eight seconds, slicing through the defense for a score. That second-half sequence was Sunday's NCAA South Regional final in a capsule: the brilliance of Oklahoma's Griffin against the precision of North Carolina's Tar Heels. One-against-five is rarely a fair fight, and it certainly wasn't here on Beale Street as North Carolina advanced to its second consecutive Final Four with a workmanlike 72-60 victory.