Associated Press

The college notebook …

CHAPEL HILL — Roy Williams had better eat his Wheaties, especially now that the cereal is paying tribute to the coach’s storied North Carolina basketball program.

The cereal called “Breakfast of Champions” unveiled a box celebrating the Tar Heels’ basketball program on Wednesday. The box — released regionally — features the interlocking “NC” logo on the front along with a picture of the Smith Center court, North Carolina’s home for 21 years.

On the back, it notes that the Tar Heels have won five national championships — four NCAA tournament titles and the 1924 Helms Foundation championship — as well as 15 ACC tournament titles.

The cereal, produced by General Mills, has honored other college programs in recent years, including Kentucky, Michigan and Notre Dame.

ARIZONA

These seem like dark days in the desert after Arizona’s 92-64 loss to North Carolina on Saturday.

Arizona is in absolutely no trouble at this point in qualifying for the NCAA tournament.

Despite losing a stunning five of their last seven games, the Wildcats’ Ratings Percentage Index ranking is still No. 6, so Lute Olson’s 22-year NCAA tournament appearance streak appears fine.

Still, Arizona (17-6) has rarely looked as bad as it has during its recent offensive funk, going one for 23 from three-point range against North Carolina.

MORE PAC-10

At the midway point of the conference season, Oregon guard Aaron Brooks looks like the Pac-10 player of the year.

A season after slumping to 10.8 points a game, he leads the Pac-10 with a 19.1-point average and has hit game-winning shots against UCLA and Arizona.

DIVISION II

This must be Division II, because we can’t fathom any major-college programs cooperating like this.

With Philadelphia University Coach Herb Magee poised to break the Division II record of 828 victories set by the late Clarence “Big House” Gaines of Winston-Salem State, Wilmington College agreed to move tonight’s game to Philadelphia’s home court because of the large crowd anticipated.

Don’t imagine Texas Tech Coach Bob Knight, who recently broke Dean Smith’s Division I men’s record of 879 victories, would have gotten that kind of cooperation.

IONA WOES

Former NBA player Jeff Ruland has never experienced a season like this.

His Iona team is 0-21, the last major-college team in the country without a victory.

The Gaels have had success since he became coach, reaching the NCAA tournament three times in his eight previous seasons.

But they’re a hard-luck bunch this season, losing their latest game Monday after leading Canisius by 10.

“Talk about bad karma,” Ruland told reporters. “I thought I led a pretty good life. I’ve never been mean to anybody. I must have some stuff coming my way.”