ACC Tournament 2012 Schedule: 5 Reasons North Carolina Is the Clear Favorite

North Carolina wrapped up its second straight ACC regular-season title this past weekend, and the Tar Heels did it in particularly satisfying fashion. They went into Cameron Indoor and destroyed their arch-rivals, the Duke Blue Devils.

As sweet as it was, North Carolina's regular-season title isn't worth all that much now. The ACC tournament begins on Thursday, and the Tar Heels will have to prove their excellence all over again.

They are without a doubt the team to beat in the ACC. The conference is strong (it usually is), but this is North Carolina's tournament to lose.

Here are five reasons why.

Tar Heels Are Hungry

This North Carolina team has unfinished business in the ACC tournament. 

The Tar Heels failed to follow up their regular-season title in 2011 with a win in the conference tournament, and it all ended with an embarrassing loss to Duke.

All the key players on this Tar Heels team remember it well. They're out for revenge.

But that's not all. At times this season, it was way too easy to question how good a basketball team North Carolina really was, even despite all their talent. It was very easy to question UNC's quality after its stunning loss to Duke.

North Carolina hasn't lost since then, and the team is clearly playing with a chip on its shoulder. This attitude will serve the Tar Heels well in the conference tourney.

Everyone Can Score

The Tar Heels finished as the second-highest scoring team in the nation this season, and there's a reason for that. At any given moment, everyone out on the floor wearing Carolina blue can score.

It all revolves around Harrison Barnes, John Henson and Tyler Zeller, each of whom averaged better than 14 points per game this season. Guarding all three of them is a tall task (no pun intended) for every team in the ACC.

But it's not all about them. Reggie Bullock is a three-point threat who must be checked at all times, and even Kendall Marshall can put the ball in the basket when he feels like it. He averaged just 7.2 points per game this season, but he had two 20-point games in UNC's last four contests.

If North Carolina is going to bow out of this tournament, it won't be because of its offense.

Unselfish Basketball

The Tar Heels ranked second in scoring this season, but what a lot of people overlook is the fact that the Tar Heels also finished fourth in assists.

Obviously, Marshall is a big reason for that. He finished second in the nation with an average of 9.6 assists per game. He has elite court vision, and he's perfectly in tune with his teammates at any given moment.

He's not the only one who can dish the rock, though. It's not uncommon for North Carolina's bigs to move the ball around, making an already dangerous trio even more dangerous. Henson, in particular, knows when to give it up and when to make a move.

The only guy who's not likely to give up the ball once he has it is Barnes, but that's not a bad thing. The Tar Heels want him making plays with the ball.

UNC's Frontcourt > Everybody Else's Frontcourt

Very few teams in the country can match up with North Carolina's frontcourt. Barnes, Henson and Zeller represent a matchup nightmare for just about everyone.

Barnes is a dynamic offensive threat, but the Tar Heels wouldn't be as good as they are without Henson and Zeller. Henson is a virtual lock for a double-double every night, and his shot-blocking abilities must be respected. Zeller is also a big double-double threat, and there are few plays he can't make in the paint.

This frontcourt is a problem when it's on offense, and it's a problem when it's on defense. The Tar Heels force their opponents to live outside the paint and to rely primarily on jump shots, so you better be hot if you want to beat North Carolina (i.e. Duke on Feb. 8).

North Carolina Is Better Than Duke

With all due respect to Florida State, this tournament is going to come down to North Carolina and Duke in the final, as it should.

The Blue Devils are not a better team than the Tar Heels. This was very much debatable when Duke beat North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but the truth is that all the stars aligned in Duke's favor that day. 

Take good fortune out of the equation, and the Tar Heels are easily the better team. They proved that with their dominant win at Cameron Indoor in the regular-season finale. They couldn't be stopped on offense, and they did a much better job defending the three. The end result was a game in which Duke never really stood a chance.

If these two teams meet up again, it will be more of the same.

Full ACC Tournament Schedule Breakdown