by Jeff Goodman

There was no way that it could happen again in the second year of the Billy Gillispie Era, right?

Hoops Hysteria

• Final NCAA tournament bracket
• Bracket Challenge: Check your picks

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Championship — Detroit, Ford Field

• North Carolina 89, Michigan State 72



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FOXSports.com analysis

• Rosenberg: Can't doubt Ol' Roy
• Goodman: UNC's cupboard not bare
• Whatifsports.com: Decade's best teams
• Goodman: Hansbrough's finishing touch
• Kriegel: Tar Heels live up to hype
• Goodman: No excuses for Spartans
• Herwitt: Five keys to UNC's title win
• Chat about North Carolina's title win
• Complete college hoops coverage

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Video

• Lawson, Ellington talk about draft
• Postgame: Tar Heels talk title
• Goodman: How UNC became champ

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Photos

• NCAA championship | Final Four

Wrong.

The Wildcats lost to high-scoring VMI at home, but this time it was only one game into the season.

On a positive note, at least Gillispie lost to a Division 1 opponent -- unlike Utah and Coastal Carolina, which each went down to the hands of D-2 clubs. Southwest Baptist, out of Missouri, picked up its first-ever win over a D-1 school when it knocked off Utah while Coastal Carolina lost to Coker College, a small school in South Carolina.

THE GOODS: This will go to a player or team each week and is the highest possible honor. Despite leaving with a loss, Rhode Island senior shooting guard Jimmy Baron put on a show at Cameron Indoor Stadium against Duke. Baron had one of the most impressive performances you'll see all season, making 8-of-9 trifectas from all over the court and nearly leading the Rams to the upset against Duke. He sank 30-footers, step-back 3-pointers and NBA 3-pointers on a regular basis with defenders in his face.

REAL DEAL: Kyle Singler. While Gerald Henderson Jr., has started off slow, Duke's sophomore forward is much more comfortable in his new role -- which should have been his role all along. Singler is on the perimeter, has added strength since last season and is thriving. He's averaging 19.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and is clearly Duke's top player so far.

THE IMPOSTER: Kentucky -- I got hammered by UK fans for not putting the Wildcats in my Preseason Top 25, but this is a team that's not there yet. That was clear while watching the point guard situation -- or lack thereof -- in Kentucky's loss to VMI. Billy Gillispie's team will improve as the season progresses, just as it did a year ago.

MID-MAJOR TEAM OF THE WEEK: We're giving co-awards to Portland and Mercer. How about new Mercer coach Bob Hoffman, who took over a team that won 11 games last season and proceeded to knock off Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Portland coach Eric Reveno and the Pilots got a huge victory over Washington.

AS ADVERTISED: Oklahoma's Blake Griffin, Arizona State's James Harden, Davidson's Stephen Curry and UConn's Hasheem Thabeet all put up ridiculous numbers in their season openers. Griffin went for 24 points and 18 rebounds, Harden had 24 points and 10 assists, Curry scored 29 points, dished out 10 assists and had nine steals and Thabeet finished with 23 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks.

PROVING A POINT: Tennessee's Bobby Maze isn't short on confidence, but it didn't work out a couple years ago at Oklahoma so he spent last season in the junior college ranks. Maze is the de facto point guard for the Vols and was terrific in the season-opening rout against Chattanooga, scoring a dozen points and dishing out 10 assists with just one turnover.

FROSH DEBUTS: Memphis' Tyreke Evans scored 19 points, USC's DeMar DeRozan finished with 14, Wake Forest's Al-Farouq Aminu had 21 points and 10 boards, Nevada's Luke Babbitt finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds and Tennessee's Scotty Hopson had 17 points. But the most impressive performance might have been that of Florida State's Chris Singleton, who had 12 points and 17 rebounds.

QUALITY RETURNS: Alabama's Ron Steels (25 points) returned after a one-year hiatus and played well despite the Crimson Tide coming up short against Mercer. Levance Fields scored 15 points and had eight assists in his return and Eric Devendorf scored 14 points after missing the second half of last season with a knee injury. LSU's Tasmin Mitchell scored 17 points and had six boards in a win over Jackson State.

SELLING SHORT: Others coming back didn't fare quite so well. Providence guard Sharaud Curry scored two points in 30 minutes in the Friars loss to Northeastern, UConn's A.J. Price was scoreless and was ejected for hitting an opponent in 25 minutes against Western Carolina and N.C. State point guard Farnold Degand logged just 13 minutes and was scoreless with one assist in a win over New Orleans.

DOUBLE TAKE: It's still strange to watch Duke and see senior point guard and three-year starter Greg Paulus on the bench. Paulus played just 11 minutes the entire game against Rhode Island while sophomore Nolan Smith played 31 minutes -- including every single moment on the court in crunch time.

SIGNATURE WIN: Northeastern at Providence. The Huskies had come up short in their 10 previous attempts on the road against BCS teams in Bill Coen's first two years at the helm, but finally pulled one out to mark the start of the Keno Davis Era in Providence. Matt Janning, after a sub-par game in a loss at Michigan, was the best player on the court.

STINKER: Alabama's loss to Mercer hurts, especially with Crimson Tide coach Mark Gottfried on the firing line this season. The good news for 'Bama fans is that Ron Steele returned and looked solid, but this team could ill-afford a loss to begin the season.

FAILED EXPERIMENT: The one involving Duke freshman Miles Plumlee as the Blue Devils starting center. It lasted all of 13 minutes against Presbyterian. Plumlee logged just two minutes against Rhode Island in the team's third game of the season.

WORST SLIP-UP: Washington's loss to a Portland team picked to finish sixth in the West Coast Conference. The Huskies are expected to contend for the NCAA tournament, but the only guy who truly showed up was Jon Brockman (30 points, 14 rebounds) -- who put up yet another double-double.

CREDIT: Give it to San Diego coach Bill Grier, who suspended three of his top players for the season-opening loss to UNLV. Gyno Pomare served a one-game suspension while Trumaine Johnson (out indefinitely) and Clinton Houston (six games) didn't play as well.

WEEK TO FORGET: New Loyola Marymount coach Bill Bayno lost his first three games as head coach (to UW-Milwaukee, Iowa State and UC Davis) at the World Vision Classic at Iowa State.

SIX-PACK ON TAP

1. Duke vs. UCLA (potential), Friday at 7 p.m. ET -- Could be the championship game of the Coaches vs. Cancer. Duke still has to get past Southern Illinois and the Bruins will need to beat Michigan, but this could be one of the elite matchups of the early season.

2. UConn vs. Miami (potential), Sunday at 7 p.m. -- This would be a terrific Paradise Jam semifinal matchup if UConn beats La Salle and Miami gets past Southern Miss.

3. Oklahoma vs. Davidson (potential), Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. -- This Preseason NIT regional final could feature two of the top five players in the country -- Oklahoma big man Blake Griffin and Davidson guard Stephen Curry. The Sooners need to beat Mississippi Valley State while Davidson has to knock off James Madison.

4. Memphis vs. USC (potential), Friday at 8 p.m. -- A possible second-round matchup in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off that would pit two of the elite freshmen in the country -- Memphis guard Tyreke Evans against USC's Demar DeRozan.

5. Kentucky at North Carolina, Tuesday at 9 p.m. -- The Wildcats could use this one to gain some respect back after the loss to VMI -- especially against a short-handed Tar Heels team that will likely be without Tyler Hansbrough and Marcus Ginyard.

6. Nevada at San Diego, Tuesday at 10 p.m. -- Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I love this matchup between two of the most under-appreciated coaches in the country. Gyno Pomare will be back for the Toreros and Wolf Pack freshman forward Luke Babbitt has a chance to be special.