2 Carl Vinson was a congressman from Georgia from 1914-65 and was huge in expanding the Navy prior to World War II. He died in 1981.
3 Four days after the Tar Heels, the Spartans travel to New York to take on No. 6 Duke. "Of all the years to start out with Carolina and Duke . . . this would rank in the bottom couple that I'd want to do that with," said Izzo, who will be rebuilding around versatile senior forward Draymond Green.
4 The Duke-Michigan State game should be Mike Krzyzewski's first chance to tie Bobby Knight's Division I career record of 903 coaching wins. He enters the season at 900. "The main significance to me is to share the moment with coach, with coach Knight," Krzyzewski said. "I love the fact that he was my coach [at Army], I was his point guard and we are the first people to win 900 games."
5 Krzyzewski is 10-1 in games played in Philadelphia. His only loss came on Jan. 25, 1996, when Temple erased a 15-point deficit in a 59-58 win at the Spectrum. His most famous victory here is his biggest win ever: the Christian Laettner buzzer-beater on March 28, 1992, against Kentucky. His first Philly victory, by the way, came in 1983 against La Salle, way back when the Explorers played home-and-home series with teams like Duke.
6 Oregon-Vanderbilt is the second-best game on Friday (10 p.m., no TV). The Ducks won the CBI Tournament last year and will be led by E.J. Singler, Oregon's top returning scorer and younger brother of former Duke star Kyle Singler.
