GAME NOTES: The defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels open the 2009-10 campaign against the Florida International Golden Panthers and new head coach Isiah Thomas in a Coaches vs. Cancer contest.</p><p>FIU garnered national headlines in the off season with the hiring of Thomas, an NBA legend, as the head coach of the program. With only five letterwinners back from a sub par 2008-09 team, Thomas certainly has plenty of work to do. FIU hasn't posted a winning season since 1999-2000 and enters this opener as a huge underdog against North Carolina.</p><p>Speaking of the sixth-ranked Tar Heels, they lost many of the key contributors from last season's team. Still, it is highly unlikely that any coach nationally feels bad for Roy Williams, as the leader of the Heels still has plenty of talent to work with. Expecting the team to win 34 games like it did a year ago seems unlikely, but another run at the ACC crown is expected.</p><p>North Carolina won its only previous meeting with FIU by a 65-44 final back in 1998.</p><p>FIU suffered a major blow when its best player, Freddy Asprilla (13.7 ppg, 9.2 rpg), left the program after former coach Sergio Ruoco was fired. Asprilla was the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and would have given the 2009-10 squad a major post presence. Fortunately for coach Thomas, forward Nicola Gacsesa headlines the returning players after averaging 10.0 ppg and 4.6 rpg last year. Thomas scoured the junior college ranks and landed 6-5 forward Marvin Roberts, who was the nation's leading juco scorer with an average of 29.6 ppg last year. Expect Roberts to step in and contribute immediately.</p><p>Tyler Hansbrough is gone. So, too, are Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green. So who is going to step in and lead the club after the departure of four NBA Draft picks, including three first-rounders? Well, Deon Thompson is the only returning double-digit scorer for the club, as he netted 10.6 ppg last season to go along with 5.7 rpg. He will be joined up front by Ed Davis, who tallied 6.7 ppg and 6.6 rpg while shooting 51.8 percent from the floor. Davis shot just 57.3 percent from the foul line as a freshman, but the 6-10 sophomore figures to improve in all aspects of the game, including free-throw shooting. Adding further depth and talent to the frontcourt is seven-footer Tyler Zeller, who got off to a promising start as a freshman before injury knocked him out of action. Zeller is back, and he can do it all. Marcus Ginyard figures to do some scoring from the backcourt, as the swingman can get to the basket and score in traffic. If Williams can find a capable point guard, the Tar Heels will be an elite team once again. Keep an eye on freshmen Leslie McDonald (6-4) and Dexter Strickland (6-3) in this opener.</p><p>North Carolina's frontcourt is downright scary. The combination of Davis, Zeller and Thompson will be far too much for the overmatched Golden Panthers to handle.</p><p>Fact Stats</p><p>Predicted Outcome