CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Regardless of records, streaks or personnel, chances are that something odd, intriguing or exciting is going to happen when North Carolina (10-5, 0-2 ACC) plays at Florida State (10-5, 2-0) on Saturday.
During the Roy Williams era, it has tended to.
Remember when the Tar Heels blew a 24-point lead and lost in overtime in 2004? Or when they needed six 3-pointers from Wes Miller to win 81-80 two years later? Then there were the game-winners by Ty Lawson and Harrison Barnes in 2009 and 2011.
Before the Florida State Seminoles could even attempt to sprint from midcourt to their home bench after the game's final buzzer sounded, they were engulfed by a sea of screaming, arm-chopping fans. Fireworks blasts that sounded like cannon shots echoed throughout the arena. The smoke from the pyrotechnic show lingered in a haze above the nearly 12,000 that emptied onto the 94-foot wooden floor to loudly celebrate a hallmark program victory.
Last Jan. 14, the Donald L. Tucker Center was a spectacle of postgame chaos. Saturday afternoon, the Seminoles are hoping to see a more orderly and controlled sight when they host North Carolina for the first time since last January's 33-point victory over the Tar Heels turned the ACC on its head and finally brought true conference respect to FSU.
