Ken Davis

Perhaps you haven’t noticed. Perhaps it is too early for some to have this discussion. It is true there’s a lot of basketball to be played.

But there’s no way to deny the fact Duke is in the hunt for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

It’s true. The same Duke team that was a No. 6 seed in the West Regional last season. The same Duke team that shuffled off to Buffalo for a first-round game and lost to VCU. The same Duke team that began the season ranked in the mid-teens of most preseason Top 25 polls. (When we say it’s the same, we’re referring to the Duke program, the uniform, the coach, etc. The team is actually quite different, but more on that later.)

Here’s another bit of reality to swallow as the first Duke-North Carolina meeting of the season approaches: One of the two big-time programs from Tobacco Road is about to emerge with home court advantage through the first two weeks of the NCAA Tournament.

Those are the stakes now and it all begins with the first showdown Feb. 6 in Chapel Hill.

The East Regional this season will be played at Charlotte Bobcat Arena in Charlotte. That’s about 109 miles from Chapel Hill and about 121 miles from Durham. Prior to that, the RBC Center in Raleigh will be one of the sites for first- and second-round games of the NCAA Tournament.  Those who have visited The Triangle understand that commute. For those who haven’t, Raleigh is about 20 miles from Durham and about 25 miles from Chapel Hill.

Thus, we have the home court advantage. Please, do not write to tell me Duke plays in Cameron Indoor Stadium and North Carolina plays in the Smith Center. Any building within the state border hosting Duke or North Carolina will be packed with fans — lots of fans — wearing shades of Tar Heel or Blue Devil blue. And with so many quality buildings in North Carolina, arenas capable of hosting a regional or sub-regional, it is an advantage these two program almost expect.

Until Maryland upset North Carolina, it was a widely accepted fact the Tar Heels would be the No. 1 seed in the East, with those games in Raleigh and Charlotte. But North Carolina’s loss, along with Tennessee’s loss to Kentucky and UCLA’s slight fall, lifted Duke into the No. 2 spot in both polls — just ahead of the Tar Heels.

The professors of bracketology, led by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, adjusted by sliding North Carolina to the No. 1 seed of the West Regional in Phoenix. Duke moved into the No. 1 slot in Charlotte. But thanks to the pod system, Lunardi left both in Raleigh for the opening rounds. The NCAA tournament selection committee easily could do the same thing in March.

Duke and North Carolina have created an unusual amount of separation in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season. While they figure heavily in the discussion of No. 1 seeds — along with Memphis, Kansas, UCLA and possibly Tennessee — the rest of the ACC is rather ordinary and the conference might be limited to four NCAA bids.

Even though Duke will never be a stranger to No. 1 seeds and playing deep into the tournament, this sudden consideration for one of the four prominent seeds is stunning. Duke basketball doesn’t fly under the radar but the Blue Devils really haven’t been part of the national championship conversation this season.

Why not?

Coach Mike Krzyzewski has said the Blue Devils are not an outstanding team. But he does refer to Duke as a “good team that’s playing real hard.” Maybe the Blue Devils are better than that. Duke is the only undefeated team remaining in the ACC and there’s only one blemish on the overall record. That one loss came Dec. 20 and was a 65-64 overtime setback to a healthy Pittsburgh team in Madison Square Garden.

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We put so much emphasis on the tapestry of an undefeated season, yet Duke is removed from that discussion by just one small stitch.

Earlier this season, we wrote about the tremendous depth Duke has and how that makes this different from other teams Coach K has engineered. We know the Blue Devils create chaos by forcing turnovers that lead to easy points. They spread the floor on offense and wear opponents down. The freshmen, led by Kyle Singler, have been terrific. But add the fact that senior guard DeMarcus Nelson has matured into a first-rate leader and it’s obvious Duke is dangerous.

Maryland defeated North Carolina on the road, then lost at home to Duke. Maryland coach Gary Williams says the pressure Duke puts on the ball sets the Blue Devils apart and that his Terps were worn down over the course of the game.

“They’re both really good,” Williams said. “Obviously, Carolina is a little bigger. Duke plays small a lot of the game but their players don’t think they are small. They rebound. They do all the things necessary, plus you have to guard them.

“People always talk about matchups, but they forget matchups are on both ends of the floor. It gets very difficult. If you have two big guys, one of them has to play [against] what really is a guard most of game.”

Williams predicts Carolina and Duke will play another great game next week. Many of these contests have become instant classics. With so much at stake, we shouldn’t expect anything less.

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