North Carolina, however, has faltered in the tournament at the worst times recently. Two seasons ago, they let an 11-point lead slip away in an 96-84 overtime loss to Georgetown that sent the Hoyas to the Final Four. Last year, they corrected that mistake with a strong late-game performance against Louisville in the regional final, only to come out flat and fall behind 40-12 in a semifinal loss to eventual champion Kansas.

This year, Williams cites a schedule that includes a home game against Kentucky and a trip to Detroit - site of this season's Final Four - to face Michigan State. There's also the Maui Invitational field that includes NCAA tournament teams Texas, Notre Dame and Oregon.

"I have no thoughts in my mind of winning every game,'' he said. "I have no thoughts in my mind of being invincible.''

He's also quick to dismiss any ideas that Ellington, Lawson and Green will cause chemistry problems by putting individual goals first to improve their NBA draft stock.

"I rely on these two things: one, the character of our kids is such a high level that they're concerned about how our team is doing, and I believe that from the bottom of my soul,'' Williams said. "The second part of that is when they all decided to come back, I said, 'Hey, if you think we're going to focus the offense on you and get you 35 shots a game, don't come back. If you want to come back and be a part of a great team, then come on back and do that.'''

At the least, their returns offer further motivation to their opponents.

"It may sound crazy, but I kind of wanted them to come back because I wanted to play against the best of the best,'' North Carolina State senior Ben McCauley said. "It's kind of crazy, the fact that you're going to play against guys that could be in the NBA already. If you can go up against them and beat them, that makes you that much better of a team.''

The Tar Heels know that attitude will greet them at every game, particularly on the road in the ACC. They acknowledge anything can happen even as they sound ready to make good on their potential.

For the record, they say another season like last year - even if it falls short of a national title - isn't a failure.

"If we didn't want any pressure or high expectations, we wouldn't have come to Carolina,'' Green said. "You expect to go into everybody's gym and have a target on your chest every game because you're North Carolina. It's the reason why we're here now.''

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