Can Anyone Stop The Heels?

As a freshman last season 7'1", 265-pound center Yinka Dare, a native of Nigeria, helped take George Washington to the Sweet 16 by averaging 12.2 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. As a player "he made the leap from being a D student to a B student," says Colonial coach Mike Jarvis. "It's much harder to go from being a B student to an A student."

Vanderbilt has the ultimate long-range threat in 6'4" senior Billy McCaffrey, and new coach Jan van Breda Kolff plans to deploy him to better advantage this season, meaning McCaffrey will get more playmaking opportunities and more shots. "I feel comfortable with that," McCaffrey says. "I like to have the ball."

Wisconsin junior forward Michael Finley has not received nearly the attention he deserves. He was the second-leading scorer in the Big Ten last season, behind only Purdue's Glenn Robinson. Point guard Tracy Webster, the Big Ten leader in assists and steals, directs an up-tempo, high-pressure, trey-chic attack that should put the Badgers in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1947.

Virginia believes it has the ACC's best floor leader in 6'1" junior Cory Alexander. However, Cavalier coach Jeff Jones doubts that his team has the size—or the toughness—to topple the Heels. "I've seen other talented North Carolina teams that don't have the hard edge this one has," says Jones. "Montross and Phelps set the tone. No one can accuse this group of being soft."

Nope. Just too loaded for the game's good.