ACC Supremacy

Man, I should have kept my prediction-making ways going, because I totally called this one too.

Sure North Carolina didn't have Ty Lawson, but past that, everyone knew UNC had the edge. Home court advantage was theirs, and most people thought that despite the inferior ranking, the Heels were the team to beat in the ACC, and Duke's lack of a big man would ultimately hurt them.

It hasn't caught up with them yet.

Duke's assault was varied. In the first half, the Devils forced turnover after turnover and made them count with a shower of three pointers. Second half, Duke attacks the inside after UNC guards the perimeter and then dominates the boards on defense. For a team with no big man, Lance Thomas and Kyle Single sure did a bang-up job of bringing the ball down when North Carolina missed (a lot of) shots.

Greg Paulus was a monster. His 18 points led the team and every last one of them came from his 6-8 three point shooting, a career high. The play when Paulus swished it while falling down was one of the defining plays of the game.

You always had a feeling the game was going to get closer, simply because that's what happens when these two teams play. It wasn't the case this time. Duke had an answer for everything UNC had, and ultimately won the game by 11, a huge number for this rivalry. Say what you will Heels supporters, but Duke is the ACC's top dog, and they've got a good chance to prove it again against these same Tarheels in March, with or without Ty Lawson.

Who's Number One?

No, this isn't that show on ESPN Classic that counts down all of our favoritest sports moments. It's about Memphis....and KU....and Duke, North Carolina, UCLA, Georgetown, Washington State, Indiana....well you get my point. Who's number one?

Well, according to the latest AP and Coaches Poll, it's Memphis. But is this is a justified pick? Let's do a quick elimination process. First off, who's lost a game? Wait, that knocks out everyone but Memphis and KU. Well, this will be easy.

Memphis IS the number one team in the country, no doubt in my mind. Maybe not talent-wise, they may not have quite the superstar roster of North Carolina, Duke, and Kansas, but they have the best credentials as of now.

Memphis has beaten Arizona, Georgetown, Oklahoma, UConn, Cincinnati, and USC, only one of which is even in their conference. It's hard to pin a poor conference on Memphis' schedule because of their very strong out of conference schedule. KU on the other hand, is just now treading into difficult territory. Despite common wins with Memphis over Oklahoma, USC, and Arizona, the Jayhawks haven't played the calibur of foes the Tigers have and likely won't until a date with Baylor on February 9th.

The two have just about drawn even in every other statistical category, meaning you really just have to go by the strength of schedule. I apologize Jayhawk fans (Actually I don't), but it seems to me you've been outgunned. For now, anyway.

Besides what's wrong with number two?