It became something of a political football involving a basketball coach when Texas gave Rick Barnes a $200,000 raise recently.

According to the Associated Press, a few Texas state legislators objected strongly last week when the University of Texas increased a scheduled $75,000 raise to $200,000 for the veteran Longhorns coach.

Before Rick Barnes went to the ACC tournament for the first time, in 1976, he expected to spend his career coaching high-school basketball and teaching physical education.

Once he walked out of the Greensboro Coliseum, his goals -- and life -- changed forever.

Barnes returns to Greensboro on Saturday with Texas to play North Carolina, a venue Barnes approaches with significant fondness, both as a native of Hickory and the former coach at Clemson.

• UNC needed that test
• The ACC could use Rick Barnes
• Nothing wrong with healthy dislike

Since the Final Four loss to Kansas last year, you had to wonder how UNC would handle its next tournament challenge. The Tar Heels provided an emphatic answer on Saturday with their 84-70 win over eighth-seeded LSU.

Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson, two of the biggest reasons for UNC's loss to Kansas, simply would not let the Heels lose on Saturday. Down 54-49 with 12:24 left in the game, Ellington scored five of UNC's next seven points.

Staff photo by Chuck Liddy

• Photo gallery: Duke 74, Texas 69 

• First Look: 157 unedited images from the game 

GREENSBORO — Greeted by boos as they walked on the court, Duke silenced the UNC fans at the Greensboro Coliseum for the first 38 minutes.

But not the two final raucous minutes of Duke's second-round win over Texas on Saturday.