North Carolina will begin its 2007 NCAA Tournament run against 16th-seeded Eastern Kentucky. Since no 16 seed has ever beaten a one seed, it’s probably a safe bet that the Colonels’ 2007 NCAA Tournament run will begin and end with the Tar Heels. The Heels first (and second) round games will be played at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, home of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Wake, incidentally, did not qualify for a postseason tournament of any sort this year.

As is the case with all 16 seeds, Eastern Kentucky received an automatic bid to this year’s Big Dance after winning its conference tournament. The Colonels pulled off an exciting victory over top seeded Austin Peay in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship, converting a layup with less than three seconds to play to give them a 63 to 62 win. The team was even more excited when they learned they didn’t have to take part in the Tuesday night play-in game, a prize instead reserved for Florida A&M and Niagara.

In addition to the powerhouses of Austin Peay and Eastern Kentucky, the Ohio Valley Conference features many other big names. For instance, Tennessee’s dangerous threesome (Tennessee Tech, Tennessee State, and Tennessee Martin), as well as Murray State and Samford. Samford, incidentally, held Eastern Kentucky to 46 points both times the two teams faced this year. The two split the season series, with Samford winning the first contest 55-46 and losing the second 46-38. Thrillers, both of them.

The Colonels enter Thursday’s game with less than twice as many losses on the season (eleven) as North Carolina (six). Of course, the Heels only lost to one team that didn’t make the NCAA Tourney, whereas Eastern Kentucky lost nine such games. The Colonels two losses to tournament-bound teams came against Ohio State and Kentucky, both of whom Carolina defeated in the regular season. Embarrassingly enough, Eastern Kentucky also lost to Western Kentucky. Few things are worse than being a directional school, but being a directional school and simultaneously losing to a directional school is one of them.

How well does EKU match up with Carolina? Not very. Eastern Kentucky has limited depth (six players averaging double figures in minutes, three players averaging double figures in points) and even more limited height (tallest player listed at 6’8”, out-rebounded by more than 100 on the season). The Colonels biggest advantage may be their experience, as their top six players feature two seniors, two juniors, a sophomore and a freshman. Of course, while Eastern Kentucky may be older, they are less talented. Not to mention the fact that Carolina has more players on their roster this season that have won a game in the NCAA Tournament than Eastern Kentucky has had in its history (the Colonels are 0-6 in the Big Dance).

Eastern Kentucky was known as the “Maroons” until 1963. At that time, the school’s president decided that the University needed a mascot instead of a color as a nickname. No one seems quite sure where “Colonel” came from, but Carolina Water Cooler figures it has some correlation with infamous KFC spokesman, Colonel Sanders (and no correlation with infamous Tar Heel basketball star, Byron Sanders). In 1963, the Colonel’s famous bucket of KFC chicken was gaining rapidly in popularity, and the school was obviously trying to piggy-back on his success.

While only the top 200 Ram’s Club members can order tickets through the University, tickets to see the Heels in action can still be obtained through other channels. The game being played in Winston-Salem provides a unique opportunity for fans to watch the Heels live in NCAA Tournament action, so get your tickets today. And if you see any Wake fans in the arena, ask them what they are doing there.