It's safe to say this hasn't been the greatest of weeks for the ABC (Anybody But Carolina) contingent.

Anybody But Carolina, in this telling, running the gamut from Phils (Duke) to Sergios (Wake Forest, maybe) to Ernies (Clemson, Miami, Virginia Tech) to Brinys (the stragglers).

And Carolina being Tiger (minus the wounded knee).

Carolina, specifically, is North Carolina -- the college basketball juggernaut based in Chapel Hill, not the thieving state that hijacked our banking logos.

Although, given the likes of George Lynch, Hubert Davis, J.R. Reid and -- now -- Benedictine's Ed Davis, the basketball Carolina is guilty of border-raid kidnapping as well.

These Tar Heels figure to boast four 1,000-point producers by the time they take flight for Bracketville next March. They'll be, in other words, loaded. This became forgone-conclusion material the other day when point guard Ty Lawson, perimeter sniper Wayne Ellington and sixth-man energizer Danny Green announced en masse they'd withdrawn their names from NBA draft consideration and were staying in school.

Just like that, UNC went from pretty darn good (it still has that Hansbrough guy -- you've maybe heard of him) to overwhelming fave to not only rule the ACC but claim an NCAA championship shortly before midnight next April 6 in Detroit.

Talk about unfair. These Tar Heels will be so stacked, so talented, so overpowering that everyone else, from Air Force to the Zags, should just cancel the season (Hillary). They've got too much size, firepower, depth and coaching for anybody this side of the Celtics (Big Brown). They're so superior to anything else in campusball that they should zoom through the season undefeated (New England Patriots).

Subliminal messages and the pitfalls of lead-pipe cinches notwithstanding, the biggest upset will be if UNC doesn't knock down its fifth national title. That's a hefty burden to lug into opening night, but you'd think if any crew can cope with massive expectations, the Tar Heels can.

Potential stumbling blocks? Yeah, they exist. Personal agendas and playing-time frustration could become issues -- but you'd think Roy Williams is savvy enough to deal with egos and discontent. The defense could be a notch tougher. Three-point shooting can come and go. But we're talking fine-tuning here, not radical surgery.

Otherwise, who -- what? -- can stop this bunch? Kansas, Memphis or UCLA? Not bloody likely. UNC's Final Four brethren of '08 are losing eight underclassmen to the NBA. The Tar Heels are losing none -- and they're importing three hot freshmen and get Bobby Frasor, a steady ballhandler and sic-'em defender, back from injured reserve. UConn? Purdue? Pitt? Louisville? All solid -- but not in UNC's league.

That brings us back to the ACC, where you'll need more than a yardstick to measure the gap between the Tar Heels and the field. Duke and Wake might be 2-3 on paper, for instance, but the Blue Devils lack heft and the Deacons need seasoning. Clemson? Miami? Umm, no.

Closer to home, Virginia Tech would be happy to make the NCAAs and has a reasonable shot. U.Va., meanwhile, would be happy to avoid last place and might if newcomer Sylven Landesberg is the next Roger Mason Jr. and not the next Willie Dersch.

Everyone, of course, would be happy if UNC somehow unravels. To that end, ABCs can root for a re-run of 1994, when Carolina returned everyone except Lynch from a national-championship squad, added Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace -- and dropped five ACC games and fell in the second round of the NCAAs.

It's not much to go on. ABC stands these days for All But Conceded.