It's hard to say whether the Arkansas Razorbacks came out flat or too high Sunday in their second round of the NCAA Tournament or if the North Carolina Tar Heels are just that good.

But before the first time out, the No. 1-ranked and overall No. 1-seeded Tar Heels held a 9-0 lead and ultimately the rest of the game proved to be academic.

North Carolina rampaged to a 108-77 victory to move on to the Sweet 16. Even if the Hogs had been at " that magical level, " Sunday, these roller-coaster Razorbacks would have been in over their heads.

Such is the lot of many No. 9 seeds over the history of the tournament when they face a determined and self-assured No. 1 seed like North Carolina.

Roy Williams' Tar Heels have been nearly everyone's favorite to win it all this year, and they showed the Razorbacks and everyone else who cared to watch why.

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By the 10: 00 mark, the Tar Heels led 33-11 and showed dominance in all aspects of the game. North Carolina had the Razorbacks frustrated, flustered and tentative, which is not the attitude a team needs if it plans to stage any kind of a comeback.

By that point, first-year Razorbacks head coach John Pelphrey, who substituted players so expertly in the Hogs' first-round victory over Indiana, was attempting any combination possible in an attempt to spark his club.

By this point, the Razorbacks were trying too hard and their effort was working against them, and to make matters worse, the powderblue partisan crowd, that had sat mostly quiet since the Tar Heels took the lead, began to show their appreciation by getting loud.

By the half, North Carolina had nearly doubled-up the Hogs, 51-26, and the second half almost seemed superfluous.

Coming out of the sec- ond-half locker-room, North Carolina perfectly executed an alley-oop slam dunk on its first possession, while on theirs, the Razorbacks traveled.

To their credit, the Razorbacks kept competing throughout the second half, but to no avail. Carolina is due all the accolades it has received this season. They are as complete a team as there is in college basketball.

It's unfortunate that fans'last memory of this Razorbacks squad will be them being smashed by the Tar Heels.

At the end of the season, the Razorbacks were capable of playing much better basketball than they showed on Sunday.

Victories over Indiana (86-72 ) and Tennessee (92-91 ) over the last nine days showed that.

But the bad came with the good this season, and while they had " it " at times, the Hogs ultimately could never maintain the consistency, focus and chemistry that Pelphrey preached since Oct. 15.

Though this season certainly brought its share of frustrations to the Hogs and their fans, it has arguably been Arkansas' best season since 1999.

Twenty-three victories is the most victories since 1999. The Razorbacks won their first NCAA Tournament game since 1999, and the Hogs finished second in the SEC Western Division by themselves.

While some of those accomplishments may seem dubious ones to mention to today's bottom-line fans, rebuilding a program is a process, one that has just begun under Pelphrey.

Six seniors depart, which means, the Hogs may take a step back next year before being able to move forward, but even after such an upand-down season, one gets the feeling the Razorbacks program is positioned for a brighter future watching Pelphrey and his staff conduct their business.

Terry J. Wood is the sports editor of the Northwest Arkansas Times.