For those who hadn't noticed, the University of North Carolina's home football game vs. Duke on Saturday has been changed to 3:30 p.m. and will be televised by ESPNU.

The game, to be played between the nation's first public university and the finest private school in Durham County, had been announced previously for 3 p.m. on ESPN360.com.

Also very notably, UNC will hold a Homecoming Parade prior to Carolina's game versus Duke for the first time since 1993. It will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday near the Carolina Inn) at the intersection of East Cameron Avenue and South Columbia Street. The parade will continue on to Franklin Street, and take a final right on to Raleigh Road, with nearly 70 student organizations, homecoming royalty and the UNC Marching Tar Heels taking part.

Winning time for CHHS alum James

Former CHHS captain Jeff James swam the third leg of UNC's winning 400 freestyle relay Saturday morning to help the Tar Heels remain unbeaten in ACC swim meets.

After swimming in the NCAC Mile Meet the previous night, the Tar Heel swimming and diving teams defeated Georgia Tech at Koury Natatorium Halloween morning. The men's team improved to 5-0, while the women picked up another win to go to 4-1. Both are 2-0 in conference meets.

There were several races where the Tar Heels went 1-2-3, highlighting the depth on the Carolina rosters this season. UNC's 400 freestyle relay ( Evan Reed, David Zolno, James and Vinny Pryor ) won in 3:06.62

The Tar Heels will be in action again at Koury Natatorium at 3 p.m. Friday against Maryland.

Heels head to Charlottesville

The North Carolina field hockey opens play this week in the Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championship in Charlottesville, Va. As the second seed, UNC receives a first-round bye and will play either third-seeded Virginia or sixth-seeded Duke on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The Cavaliers and Blue Devils meet in a first-round game on Thursday. Undefeated Maryland has the top seed, and the Terps will play either No. 4 Wake Forest or No. 5 Boston College in Friday'sfirst semifinal game, set for 4 p.m.

"It's about surviving and advancing now, " UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "Everyone is 0-0. We're proud to play in the ACC and we're looking forward to the tournament this weekend. We'll get back to practice this week and try to continue to improve."

UNC finished off its regular-season schedule last Saturday with a 2-0 win over Old Dominion at the Lady Monarchs' Powhatan Sports Complex. The shutout was UNC's 12th of the season and boosted the Tar Heels' record to 16-1. ODU, which lost 4-0 to Carolina on Sept. 18 in Chapel Hill, fell to 8-11 overall.

"Every time we play ODU it's a challenge, " Shelton said. "This was not an easy victory. I'm really proud of the kids, especially Charlotte Verstraten, who scored the first goal and had a hand in the second."

With the win, Carolina pulled ahead of Old Dominion in the teams' overall series, which dates back to 1978 and now stands at 34-33-2 in UNC's favor. ODU was the only rival Carolina had played more than 10 times and still trailed in the overall series.

Women favored in ACC basketball

For the second consecutive year, the North Carolina women's basketball team was selected to win the Atlantic Coast Conference by a vote of the Blue Ribbon Panel, announced Monday by the league office. The panel, a contingent of national and local media, as well as school representatives, gave 30 of 45 first-place votes to the Tar Heels.

Following North Carolina was Duke with 10 first-place votes, 2008-09 co-regular season champion Florida State, and Virginia. Co-regular season champion and ACC Tournament champion Maryland received three first-place votes and was tabbed fifth. Boston College, Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, Wake Forest, Clemson, and Virginia Tech rounded out the selection order.

North Carolina senior forward Jessica Breland was chosen for the preseason All-ACC team. She was joined in preseason selection honors by teammate and Tar Heel newcomer Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, a freshman guard from Alexandria, Va., who was picked to be the league's Preseason Rookie of the Year.

Good and brainy

And for the second successive year, the University of North Carolina women's soccer team has had three players named to the ESPN The Magazine District 3 All-Academic Team as senior defender Kristi Eveland individually earned honors for the third year in a row while being joined this year by senior defender Whitney Engen and senior goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris who were also named to the 11-woman first-team squad. District 3 covers nominees in the states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

UNC opens play in the ACC Tournament in Cary at 7:30 p.m. tonight versus Maryland. If they win, the Tar Heels will play either Boston College or Virginia at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

OCPW Peewees clinch playoff

The Orange County Pop Warner Tar Heels Peewee (ages 9-11) team moved their record to 7-0 with a 28-0 win over Garner this past Saturday. With the win, the Tar Heels clinched the championship for Consolidated Football Federation's Peewee Division III, and they earned a berth in the Mid-South USA Regional Championships beginning Saturday.

The OCPW Mighty Mites (ages 7-9) ended their regular season with a 26-0 victory over Cleveland this past Saturday. The OCPW Tiny Mites (ages 5-7) were defeated by the Durham Eagles 28-0.

Briefly ...

North Carolina sophomore defensive tackle Tydreke Powell, who forced the crucial fumble that led to the winning points for Carolina at Virginia Tech, has been named the ACC's Defensive Lineman of the Week. ... In what has turned out to be a big rivalry in recent years at the JV level, Orange and CHHS will play their junior varsity football game at 6:30 p.m. in Culton-Peerman Stadium. ... Likewise, middle school football today moves into the big time, with Phillips shooting for its first winning season in more than a decade when its host Hillsborough Stanback at 4 p.m. today in East Chapel Hill's Wildcat Stadium.