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Chansky: 40 Years Of Firsts :: This year's tournament has more than a few parallels to the 1967 season.
On the 40th anniversary of Dean Smith's first championship, the ACC Tournament moving to Tampa has more than a few parallels to that memorable 1967 season...Regardless of the final standings, the ACC Tournament champion from 1954 through 1974 received the league's only NCAA bid. McGuire called it Russian roulette because lose one and you were done for the season.

It created tremendous pressure for Smith's young 1967 team, which had won the regular season (12-2) and beaten defending ACC Champion Duke twice. The Blue Devils had become the next dominant program, also winning conference titles in 1960, '63 and '64. UNC's only ACC Tournament championship came 10 years prior, when McGuire's team road its storybook undefeated record of 32-0 to an NCAA title.

Although the Tar Heels had lost only four games and were ranked fourth in the nation, skeptics claimed Carolina couldn't beat Duke three times in the same season. Smith Barrier, sports editor of the old Greensboro Daily News, wrote a column predicting another title for Bubas' more-experienced Blue Devils.

Thu,08 Mar 2007 09:46:01 +0000

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