Ken Davis

It doesn’t seem that long ago we all had Feb. 11 circled on our calendars. In our infinite preseason wisdom, and gazing into our crystal ball, North Carolina was supposed to be ranked No. 1, undefeated and heading to Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium for that first ultimate showdown of the season.

The date is finally upon us. It seems so much has changed. But are things really that different? Will the outcome of Wednesday night’s game bring anything into sharper focus? Based on the ebb and flow of this season, that’s not likely. We should understand by now that this will be one snapshot from this season. Whoever wins this contest might come out and play its worst game of the year next time — and vice versa.

It will be an exciting game. That’s a given in this rivalry. North Carolina is ranked No. 3 and Duke is ranked No. 6. Both teams have occupied the top spot in the polls this season. Both have had games when they appeared unbeatable. And both have had games when they just didn’t seem themselves.

But just hours before tip-off, there is a sense that North Carolina is about to regain control of the Atlantic Coast Conference race and the Blue Devils may have many more questions than answers. Even Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski says his team is trying to find its offensive identity.

“Right now, the offensive philosophy is how many shots can we miss and still win a game,” Krzyzewski told reporters this week.

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That’s not a good place to be. Not with North Carolina coming calling. If you want to assume Duke will win just because the game is in Durham, think again. The Tar Heels have won three straight at Duke.

“I don’t even bring that up,” Krzyzewski said. “Kids can’t identify with history. They’re too young. But they can identify with ‘now.’ . . . And the ‘now’ is that this is a hell of a game. Now is both are tied for first place (at 7-2). And how are we playing right now and how are they playing right now?”

Exactly how are the Blue Devils playing right now? Do we judge them on their 20-3 record? Do we judge them on Saturday’s come-from-behind overtime victory over Miami? Or do we judge them on what happened less than a week ago?

There were so many strange sights and sounds to be found at Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum on Feb. 4. Start with the solemn expressions of defeat on the faces of Krzyzewski and his assistants, Chris Collins and Steve Wojciechowski. Coach K’s cheeks turn really red when the Blue Devils aren’t playing well and they were on fire in this loss.

Think about the timeout Krzyzewski took in the final minute — not to talk to his players — but to let them listen to the Clemson celebration. He didn’t want them to forget how that felt. He sent another message with his five-man substitution patterns.

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The Blue Devils had to be stunned, especially by the final numbers on the scoreboard. Clemson 74, Duke 47. Duke teams don’t get beat like that. You’ve got to go back to the 1990 NCAA championship game, when UNLV crushed the Blue Devils 103-73, to find anything like it.

“We didn’t compete with them tonight,” Krzyzewski said. “That’s not a good thing. . . . It was 40 minutes of them dominating. They just kicked our butts.”

Strange quotes. “We just played great. . . . They quit at the end,” Clemson’s Trevor Booker told The Associated Press.

Quit? That word isn’t supposed to exist in the Dookie dictionary.

When Duke is hitting three-pointers and extending its pressure defense, beautiful things can happen on the basketball court. That hasn’t been the case lately and when Duke’s execution isn’t perfect, it exposes the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of a team that might not make it past the second round in the NCAA Tournament.