The definition of the word “chalk” ­­— according to basketballprospectus.com — as it pertains to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, refers to the higher-seeded team in a game or the highest-seeded team in a bracket.

If the higher seeds win the lion’s share of the games in a tournament, it is described as being “chalky.”

In this year’s tournament, there was probably enough chalk to turn an entire chalkboard white.

Monday night, No. 1 seed North Carolina won its fifth championship by way of an 89-72 victory over No. 2 seed Michigan State.

The ’Heels completely destroyed opponent after opponent on the road to their one shining moment, which, under the eyes of history, probably isn’t that shiny — except to UNC fans, of course.

The shining moments were hard to come by in the 2009 tournament; it lacked close games, had even fewer buzzer-beaters and far too little Cinderella upsets to make it a March Madness for the ages.

The Spartans had a chance to salvage this tournament for college basketball fans by becoming the second team to defeat three No. 1 seeds in an NCAA tournament.

However, Michigan State, which played so well in wins over No. 1 seeds Louisville and Connecticut, proceeded to repeatedly hand the ball to Ty Lawson and company on its way to losing by 17 points.

This isn’t to say MSU is some sort of underdog, either, though it was hailed as such by the CBS announcers.

In reality, the Spartans were a No. 2 seed, which means they were almost as much a favorite to make the Final Four as any of the three No. 1 seeds they played in the last three rounds.

Also, MSU head coach Tom Izzo has turned the Spartan basketball program into a powerhouse. Michigan State won the 2000 national title and just made its 12th straight tournament appearance.

This year’s tournament had already lost the interest of Washington fans after the fourth-seeded Dawgs fell 76-74 to fifth-seeded Purdue in a second-round upset.

In fact, Northwest fans in general didn’t have much to root for after the first weekend, as Gonzaga was stomped by the mighty ’Heels in the Sweet 16, while Portland State fell victim to a very good Xavier team in the first round.

That left it up to the schools from the little conferences to step it up and generate some excitement by taking down the big boys. But that didn’t happen either.

There were only four Cinderella-esque schools to make it out of the first round in 2009: Western Kentucky, Cleveland State, Dayton and Siena. But Siena barely counts since it was a No. 9 seed that took down a No. 8.

To make matters worse, midnight struck early for all four Cinderellas, as they were all eliminated in the second round.

Finally, for those who care about conference bragging rights, it’s safe to say this season’s tournament will not make the annals of Pac-10 lore.

Although five out of six Pac-10 teams made the second round, all but Arizona were eliminated there, and even then, the Wildcats were subsequently ripped apart 103-64 by Louisville in the Sweet 16.

Chalk at its finest.

Reach columnist Honsen Lin at sports@dailyuw.com.