By Keith_Osso. Published Friday, March 27th, 2009

First off let me say this:  the BBQ in this town is out of this world.  Second of all…Beale Street is as good as advertised.  Now down to business.

 The Zags are up against a pretty darn good team today in North Carolina.  They were the pre-season #1 team in America, and have stayed in or around the top-5 all year long.  They have the ACC MVP in Ty Lawson, and the ACC career scoring leader in Tyler Hansbrough.  This team is loaded with McDonald’s All-Americans and is in the top-5 college basketball programs of all time.

That being said, I think if the Zags have to play a number one seed, this is the team for them to play.  I think for some reason, Gonzaga matches up well with them.  Ty Lawson is playing on a bad toe…expect Jeremy Pargo and Matt Bouldin to post him up and make him play physical with his feet.  Josh Heytvelt beat Hansbrough head to head just two seasons ago.  And most importantly, Gonzaga beat them in New York in that game.  This Gonzaga team knows they can beat North Carolina.  Will they?  I don’t know, but they can.

The biggest factor in this game that makes me feel like Gonzaga could pull this off, is they have absolutely no pressure on them. 

Nobody outside of the Spokane area thinks they have a chance.  Vegas has them as an 8-9 point underdog.  If this game stays close…the pressure will mount for North Carolina.  Gonzaga has always played up to competition (with a few exceptions).  I expect Gonzaga to come out loose and confident, which is when they are usually at their best.  I’m not sure if that will translate into a win…but at the very least I expect them to have a shot tonight, and in the NCAA tournament, you can’t ask for much more than that at this point. 

Tonight we will see if this is an elite 8 team…or a team that is headed home.