ACC Tournament 2012: North Carolina Will Cruise to Conference Title

With Saturday's 88-70 victory over arch rival Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, North Carolina answered a series of questions that had hung over Chapel Hill in recent weeks:

Was the Tar Heels' loss to the Blue Devils at the Dean Dome a fluke? Yes.

Are the Tar Heels the regular season champs of the ACC? Yes.

Will the Tar Heels win the ACC Tournament and secure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament as a result? Yes.

We've known all along that Roy Williams' squad has the talent to win not only the ACC title, but the national title as well. Between Harrison Barnes, Tyler Zeller, John Henson and Kendall Marshall, UNC boasts four players who could be in the NBA as early as next season, and two more (Reggie Bullock and James McAdoo) who will join them in the pros before too long.

The problem was one of defense, and specifically, whether the Tar Heels, with their abundance of offensive skill and athletic prowess, would commit themselves to playing some.

Or at least getting a hand in someone's face from time to time.

Those deficiencies came back to bite the Heels on their home court last month, when they allowed the hated Blue Devils to knock down 14 three-pointers, including six by freshman phenom Austin Rivers, en route to a stunning 85-84 decision.

This time around, North Carolina made a concerted effort to clamp down on the perimeter, holding Mike Krzyzewski's club to 41.3 percent shooting from the floor and just a 6-of-21 performance from behind the three-point line.

If the Heels can defend like that, and continue to rebound and score as they have all season, then they should have no trouble locking up the ACC crown in Atlanta next week before embarking on a March Madness quest to earn Roy Williams his third ring since leaving Kansas for UNC.

Follow @J0shMart1n