Over in North Carolina, this season will always be remembered as the year Kendall Marshall's injury cost UNC the national championship. The Heels were cruising to victory over Creighton in the second round, when Marshall -- their excellent point guard -- fell awkwardly and broke his wrist. Two games later, the Heels lost 80-67 to Kansas.
But what if North Carolina had been the number one overall seed? What if, for example, Anthony Davis had not blocked John Henson's shot at the end of the UK/UNC game in December, and the Heels had won that game? And then, knowing that they had a good chance at the overall number one seed, the Heels had gone all out to win the ACC title, and had smoked Florida State in the championship game? Then the Heels, instead of entering the tournament with a record of 29-5, had done so with a record of 31-3. Meanwhile, UK -- with its extra loss to UNC -- would also have finished 31-3. Would the NCAA give UNC the number one overall seed over UK in a year when the Tar Heels won at Rupp? Of course they would have.
And then everything is different. Instead of playing Kansas in St. Louis yesterday, the Heels would likely have been in Atlanta against Baylor or some similar team. We would have been stuck in that battle with Kansas yesterday. We might still have prevailed, but the Heels would have gone to the Final Four as well -- they could beat Baylor no matter who they played at point guard. But thanks in large part to Anthony Davis, they were not the overall number one seed, and now their season is over.
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