After warming up with Florida International and N.C. Central earlier this week to open the season, sixth-ranked UNC (2-0) will play Valparaiso at 4 p.m. today in a game that will be televised by Fox Sports South. (The varsity game will be preceded by a 1 p.m. matchup between the Carolina JVs and Davidson Community College.)

Valparaiso's Crusaders opened their season against Ball State on Friday night.

As the opponents get tougher, the better will be the perspective by which to judge this young, tall team. Everyone already knows these Tar Heels stand tall, probably the biggest of any team in the nation.

So far, that has made scoring against Carolina a difficult proposition.

N.C. Central could manage just 25-percent shooting against UNC on Wednesday in an 89-42 Carolina victory. The Eagles shot 18 percent in the second half. They turned the ball over 21 times, and Carolina blocked nine shots and had 10 steals.

"It was a humbling experience for those guys," N.C. Central coach LeVelle Moton said. "Rightfully so; North Carolina has really been the blueprint of college basketball. ... We really try to stress to our big men to run the floor, run the floor. We showed them tapes of North Carolina, their big men running the floor.

"They probably have 12 pros on that team, but they work extremely hard. They do it the right way. They do it the right way all the time."

The Tar Heels' roster is bulging with talent, but so much of it is inexperienced talent, both individually and as a group. That's one of the things about this team that will be so interesting to watch.

After this afternoon's game, UNC will head to New York to play Ohio State and then either Syracuse or California the next evening.

The schedule takes an enormous leap forward in December. The Tar Heels will play three of the top four teams in the country in (No. 2-ranked) Michigan State, (No. 3) Texas and (No. 4) Kentucky.

Then, in 2010, there's that little matter of the Atlantic Coast Conference race.

The one thing this young team has not gotten enough of is practice time. That is why UNC coach Roy Williams relished the two days he had the team between the games against N.C. Central and Valparaiso.

These kids had to overcome the initial jitters of putting on a Carolina uniform and performing at the Smith Center in their first few appearances, including an exhibition game against Belmont Abbey.

No matter how much ball they played before, playing for Carolina in the Dean Dome is a new experience.

"Friday night (the exhibition game), Monday, (Wednesday), we're trying to get everybody to relax a little bit and be basketball players and don't be so scared you can't make a play," Williams said. "Now we have some game experience under our belts. Hopefully, we'll be able to show them some tape of what we've been talking about as a staff, and they can see themselves doing it. Every kid believes us, but they don't believe it nearly as much until they see it themselves."

Watching the Tar Heels on Wednesday versus Monday's opener, the difference was obvious. But now Carolina will have to get down to some serious improvements as the competition gets tougher.

The potential exists for this team to be a great defensive team, but to get there will require lot of repetitions in practice and in games. At present, the younger kids have to "think" their way through a lot of what they are doing.

Just ask the older guys. Sophomore Larry Drew II said the first few days of practice are a dizzying experience.

"When you first get here," Drew said, "Coach will tell you, 'I'm going to throw a million things at you; just grab as many as you can.' I understand. The first couple of weeks, your head is going every direction. The more you play, the more comfortable you get out there on the court."

The more comfortable the Tar Heels can get with one another by December, the better off they're going to be, because life is going to get a lot tougher in a hurry.