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Little Dance:
Tar Heels meet the Tribe

It's North Carolina playing against William & Mary

By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Mar 16, 2010

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Before the Big Dance begins on Thursday, the Little Dance tips off. Tonight the NIT opens with two of last year's Final Four participants, North Carolina and UConn, in the tournament.

The Tar Heels, the defending national champs, take on William & Mary at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN in one of the day's seven opening-round games.

UNC is the second defending champ in the past three seasons to fall into the NIT, basically the rest of the best who did not make the NCAA tourney, in the year after they won the national title. Florida also went to the NIT in 2008 after losing key players from its 2007 title winner.

The Tar Heels struggled to a 16-16 record with an inexperienced lineup after losing All-Americans Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson from last year's squad.

UConn, which made last year's national semifinals, didn't fare much better. The Huskies finished 17-15 in a season marred by medical problems for coach Jim Calhoun, who had to take a few games off at midseason.

While the NIT is a disappointment for the Tar Heels and Huskies, it's quite the opposite for W&M, a perennial Colonial Athletic Association cellar dweller that posted its third-best record, 22-10, in history and earned just its second postseason berth.

Whether a strong Tribe team can defeat a mediocre North Carolina one, however, remains to be seen. W&M posted wins over Wake Forest and Maryland during the regular season, both teams that topped the Tar Heels in ACC play. But W&M players have never been to the NIT, while the bulk of the UNC team made deep NCAA runs the past few seasons.

Viewership for the game could be up slightly from the average NIT contest because of North Carolina's presence, as could the tourney as a whole if North Carolina or UConn make a finals run. In UNC's final regular-season game a week and a half ago, 2.5 million viewers watched the Tar Heels lose to Duke.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
TUESDAY, MARCH 16
Time	Network	Program	Description
7:30 p.m.	ESPN	“College Basketball” (S)	The NCAA tournament play-in game, where two teams battle for the right to be blown out by a No. 1 seed.
8 p.m.	CBS	“NCIS” (D)	The crew joins forces with a similar team from the Coast Guard.
8 p.m.	Fox	“American Idol” (R)	Put up or shut up—the 12 finalists perform.
8 p.m.	NBC	“The Biggest Loser” (R)	The contestants get 12 ingredients to use in a 30-minute cook-off.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Lost” (D)	Sawyer goes on a mission for He Who Looks Like Locke.
9 p.m.	CBS	“NCIS: Los Angeles” (D)	A Marine is killed in a drive-by shooting.
10 p.m.	FX	“Justified” (D)	Series premiere. Timothy Olyphant stars as a U.S. marshal who plays by his own rules. (As all the stars of FX shows do.)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CW	“America’s Next Top Model” (R)	The models’ first challenge is to take part in a nude photo shoot.
9 p.m.	Fox	“American Idol” (R)	One of the top 12 finalists is eliminated.
9 p.m.	Food Network	“Throwdown with Bobby Flay” (R)	Flay takes on a chef in New Jersey in a battle of stuffed French toast.
10 p.m.	NBC	“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (D)	Benson and Stabler doubt the credibility of a rape accusation.
10 p.m.	A&E	“Dog the Bounty Hunter” (R)	Dog and his crew track an unlikely fugitive.
10 p.m.	Comedy Central	“South Park” (C)	Season premiere. This will make you feel old: the show begins its 14th season.
10 p.m.	MTV	“The Real World” (R)	Erika’s boyfriend visits, and then she decides she wants to go home.
THURSDAY, MARCH 18
Time	Network	Program	Description
Noon, 7 p.m.	CBS	“College Basketball” (S)	March Madness officially gets underway with the start of the NCAA tournament.
8 p.m.	ABC	“FlashForward” (D)	Mark is forced to meet with a therapist before he can return to the FBI.
9 p.m.	NBC	“The Office” (C)	The workers try to drum up sales with new leads.
9:30 p.m.	TNT	“NBA Basketball” (S)	Chris Paul and the Hornets take on Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets.
10 p.m.	Bravo	“Real Housewives of New York City” (R)	Most parents ponder how to tell their kids about the birds and the bees. Equally awkward, Kelly tells her daughters that she’s going to pose in Playboy.
10 p.m.	Lifetime	“Project Runway” (R)	Another team challenge, which always results in plenty of drama.
FRIDAY, MARCH 19
Time	Network	Program	Description
Noon, 7 p.m.	CBS	“College Basketball” (S)	More first-round NCAA tournament coverage.
8 p.m.	ABC	“Thin Ice” (A)	Series premiere. First of a two-part figure skating competition.
8 p.m.	Nickelodeon	“iCarly” (C, K)	Carly and her friends try to help a washed-up pop star make a comeback.
8:30 p.m.	Disney Channel	“Wizards of Waverly Place” (C, K)	Justin campaigns to become student body president.
9 p.m.	Syfy	“Caprica” (D)	Joseph looks for Tamara in a New Cap City nightclub.
10 p.m.	Starz	“Spartacus: Blood and Sand” (D)	Spartacus is controlled by Rome’s richest woman.
SATURDAY, MARCH 20
Time	Network	Program	Description
1 p.m.	CBS	“College Basketball” (S)	Coverage of the second round of the NCAA tournament begins.
3 p.m.	NBC	“PGA Golf” (S)	Third round of the Transitions Championship from Palm Harbor, Fla.
7:30 p.m.	ESPN	“College Wrestling” (S)	Coverage of the NCAA championships from Omaha, Neb.
8 p.m.	Fox	“Cops” (R)	Cops in Texas chase down a man who runs away from a bar fight.
9 p.m.	Hallmark	“Healing Hands” (M)	A janitor can heal others by touching them, but it hurts his own health.
9 p.m.	BBC America	“Survivors” (D)	Season finale. Abby’s group tries to separate itself from Samantha.
SUNDAY, MARCH 21
Time	Network	Program	Description
Noon	CBS	“College Basketball” (S)	More second-round tournament coverage, setting up next week’s sweet 16.
Noon	Fox	“NSACAR Racing” (S)	A Sprint Cup race from Bristol, Tenn.
8 p.m.	Fox	“The Simpsons” (C)	Sarah Silverman voices a girl Bart has a crush on.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Desperate Housewives” (D)	Gaby and Susan get into it and Angie’s ex-boyfriend shows up.
10 p.m.	Style	“Jerseylicious” (R)	Series premiere. Following workers at a hair salon in New Jersey.
10 p.m.	E!	“Kendra” (R)	Kendra and Hank bring their baby home for the first time.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.