Not many teams win a national championship and then come back the next season expected to do just about as well. Then again, not too many come back with the biggest front line this side of the NBA.

But that is exactly what has happened in Chapel Hill.

North Carolina, which defeated Michigan State in March to win a fifth NCAA championship, is a co-favorite to win the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season race -- again -- this year.

After Carolina won the NCAA title back in 2005, the Tar Heels lost their top seven scorers and rode a freshman named Tyler Hansbrough and a senior named David Noel to second place in the ACC standings.

That season shocked a lot of fans, because UNC won 23 games and got better right up to the evening the Tar Heels defeated Duke on senior night in Durham.

This season will start with high expectations.

"We have more experience than we had in '06," Williams said. "It is different with the guys we have coming back."

The Tar Heels, the ACC- co-favorites along with Duke, will play an exhibition game against Belmont Abbey on Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m., and then open the season on Nov. 9 against Florida International at 7 p.m. at the Smith Center.

At any given moment, Williams can put a combination of six different big men on the floor.

One of those is Deon Thompson, a senior who has been to two Final Fours and played on two U.S. teams overseas.

He can pair Thompson with Ed Davis, who played strong down the stretch a year ago, blocking shots, rebounding and eventually becoming smoother with his shot. Tyler Zeller is a 7-footer who broke his wrist last season in November, but returned in time to play in the NCAA Tournament. He can really score.

Freshman John Henson is going to try to play some at the small forward position. His reach is "only" around 7 feet 4. He and Davis will reject a lot of shots when they are in the game together.

Then there are David and Travis Wear, two 6-10 twins from California.

"I would rather have too many than not enough," Williams said. "The depth up front his year has to be a strong point for us. You have Deon, who performed and did well. You have Ed, who performed and did well. You have Tyler [Zeller], who performed on a big stage for a couple of weeks and then got hurt. It was never an easy fit to get him back to the level that he was. We know that he can do it. He's much further along than he would have been if he had not come back and played. Then you have three unknowns in Travis, David and John. It's a good problem to have.

"It's my job to get the guys who are playing the best the most minutes and get everybody to challenge them for that. I do like the depth. I do like the versatility. I do like that one, two or three of them are going to be able to play at the three spot. We could really have a big team out on the court sometimes."

Having that many big men will mean the guards can overplay on defense and pressure hard on the ball because if they get beat off the dribble there will be someone near the basket to possibly erase the mistake.

"I think our defensive potential, John can really block a lot of shots," Williams said. "Dave and Travis will block some shots, but they do a good job of drawing charges. So I think defensively we'll be really good inside."

Larry Drew II will run the point, and he should be a much improved player with a year's experience.

"He's not Ty (Lawson)," Williams said of Drew, "and he's not going to be Ty. He has his own skill set. There are some things you do better than Ty. There are some things Ty did better than you. Larry is longer. Defensively, he's going to get his hands on more balls. He will deflect more passes. He has an ability to bother an outside shot. He's always been a point guard, so he thinks like a point guard. It's a more serious approach for him every day. There was nothing wrong with Ty's approach.

"Larry instinctively throws some passes. He probably does a better job on the screen and roll. He does not have Ty's speed. He has not shown he is capable of shooting a three-point percentage that Ty did. He hasn't shown he can penetrate to the basket and score individually like Ty did."

But the major factor on this team could well be the leadership of fifth-year senior Marcus Ginyard. Just as Noel led the 2006 team, Ginyard is the kind of young man who can keep this one on track.

"There is no question throughout the season there are going to be points that a weak team would give up and think that all is lost," Ginyard said. "For example, we started 0-2 last year in the ACC. But having a guy like David Noel will really get you through those times.

"You can always bounce back and you can push through those tough times. Everybody is going to have them. It's how you respond to them and how you continue to get better after those."

- chn -