North Carolina Tar Heels

1. What's in a nickname? Monikers flow in a locker room like coffee in a diner. You're more than familiar with Carolina's first-team All-American, Tyler "Psycho T" Hansbrough. But can you recall the only player strong enough to hold Hansbrough in check this season? That would be unsung senior Dewey "Biscuits" Burke, who earned acclaim by preserving order in the aftermath of a hard Gerald "G" Henderson Duke foul with a bear hug on the bloodied big man. But Biscuits was already a BMOC (Facebook fan club: "Dewey=Biscuits"), having won his BoBerrylicious tag earlier in the season. Burke converted truly clutch buckets to help the Heels hit 100 points in three different home games, thus enabling fans to head home happy and redeem their ticket stubs for free biscuits at Bojangles' fried-chicken joints the very next day. Where does "Biscuits" Burke rank all-time among the top Tar Heel nicknames? Aside from freshman teammates Wayne "The Rain" Ellington and Brandan "The Condor" Wright, he'll have to contend with Kenny "The Jet" Smith, Billy "The Kangaroo Kid" Cunningham and Sam "Big Smooth" Perkins.

2. Have a Coke and a smile, Ol' Roy. Allegiances run deep in college basketball. Carolina coach Roy Williams still tears up when talking about his 15 years with the rock-chalk Jayhawks. He'll never buy a home in Durham. And you'd better not force him to drink a Pepsi product. While scouting a game during last year's Pepsi-sponsored ACC Tournament in Greensboro, Williams was told by ACC officials that he couldn't chew ice from his red Coke cup. After initially threatening to leave the arena, he eventually complied. This year, Tar Heel team managers brought a stash of Coca-Cola products to the tourney (Diet Sprite for Williams; Diet Coke for assistant coach Joe Halladay, and Coke for assistant coach Steve Robinson). In a TV commercial sure to make the rounds during this year's Big Dance, Williams recounts how his moms used to leave a hard-earned dime out for him to buy a Coke with his friends. Will the ad air often enough to spark a backlash akin to that against Coach K and his cozy AmEx ties?

3. Six Degrees of Wes Miller. Warren Weston Miller — the Carolina senior marksman whose favorite shot is "any lay-up because there haven't been many" — is best friends with Jacksonville Jaguars running back Alvin Pearman, who also grew up in Charlotte. Pearman, of course, is tight with fellow Jaguars offensive weapon Matt Jones, the versatile quarterback-turned-receiver who broke former Razorbacks All-American Corliss Williamson's SEC basketball record for season scoring average (24.5 points per game) as a junior at Arkansas. "Big Nasty" Williamson, mind you, is still playing ball professionally for the Sacramento Kings — and was once moved to Toronto in a trade involving former Raptors center Eric Montross. "The Big E," as all Tar Heels know, not only was a first-team All-American at North Carolina but played the 1990-91 season as a freshman alongside senior point guard King Rice ... also known as a backcourt mentor and the favorite former player of one Warren Weston Miller. — Brian Styers and Matt Viser