What UNC Must Do to Win a National Championship

North Carolina's basketball program has begun yet another season at the top of the polls. They are ranked #1. With most of their key players returning many people feel they will win it all this year. This, despite the fact that there are several great teams this year including, UCLA, Tennessee, Memphis and Kansas. All of these teams are more than capable of winning it all. I think North Carolina will cut the nets down in March but their are some keys to this actually happening. Here are the thing Carolina must do if they want to win it all:

Have inside help for Hansbrough- Tyler Hansbrough is hands down the best player in college basketball. But Hansbrough alone will not be able to win it all for the heels. Sure he is going to get his fair share of points and rebounds. However he is no longer a secret. He is going to receive double teams every single night. Teams are at least going to try to take him out of the game. Somebody will have to step up and score points in the post for Carolina. The key player will be Deon Thompson. Thompson has shown the potential to step up and will need to do just that. Also sophomore Alex Stepheson is going to need to be a contributer on both offense and defense in the post. Last year Tyler got help for now NBA rookie Branden Wright. Wright could block shots and score in the post. This took a lot of pressure off of Tyler. Both Thompson and Stepheson will have to do the same if the heels want to win it all.

Shoot the ball well from the outside-UNC's best outside shooter on last year's team, Wes Miller has graduated. He was a reliable scorer from behind the arc. The Tarheels will need someone to step up and take his place as a good outside shooter. They have guys who are capable. Danny Green and Bobby Frasor have both shown signs of being good outside shooters. Sophomore Wayne Ellington was known as a great shooter in high school and has shown signs early this year as being 'the man' from outside. Ty Lawson has also shown the ability to knock down the outside shot. If these guys can step up and knock down the outside shot, the Tarheels will be tough to stop. Life will be much easier for Hansbrough and company inside.

Play championship defense. We've all heard the pharse "Defense wins championships." It's true! Without great defense you can only go so far in the NCAA tournament. UNC got it right in 2005 win they won the championship, as they had a great defensive team. They will have to do the same this year if they want to win it all again. Two of their best defense players are gone. Both Wes Miller and Branden Wright were defensive stoppers and were tough on the defensive side of the basketball. The heels must step up in this area if they want to go all the way.

Play consistently- Last year's season ending loss is prove that this team can be inconsistent. They play great in some games and not so great in others. After leading against Georgetown for nearly the entire game, the heels fell asleep in the final few minutes and lost in overtime. They have to play hard every night. No one is going to give them anything. Hopefully last year's regional final loss will help them to overcome this problem.

If the Tarheels do these things they will win it all. They are extremely talented and deep. Talent will only take them so far. They must play good defense, hit outside shots, get help for Hansbrough and play consistently if they want to win it all!