It's Carolina and Everyone Else

It's not hard to say that North Carolina is the best team in the ACC and that they will win the regular season. After the Tar Heels, who knows? But Carolina now seems like Zeus looking down from Mount Olympus at the mere mortals.

On Saturday night, Georgia Tech tried to bully the Heels, but they couldn't do it. They had to figure they couldn't bully Tyler Hansbrough, but they tried. Hansbrough took the Tech aggressiveness to the foul line, where he made 14 of 15, and Carolina's record goes to 17-2 overall and 4-1 in the ACC.

UNC has all kinds of people who can score. On Saturday night, Reyshawn Terry -- who does love his points -- had 16. He and Hansbrough were the only Tar Heels in double figures, but nine players in all scored. And if it continues to make no difference to the players who gets the points, this talented team will keep rolling.

Sure, they still turn the ball over a lot, and sometimes they don't box out but with their "push the ball" philosophy, but they're getting away with it. Williams wants to keep the pressure on with his seemingly endless bench, and it's working for him.

What is making Carolina so tough now is that they're playing hard defense. Not all the time -- as Williams will tell you -- but it's getting better. Georgia Tech was scoring 84 points a game. They got 61 against UNC. The Jackets were shooting 51 percent from the floor coming into the game. Carolina held them to 41 percent.

North Carolina is a young team and they can still be had. They're not invincible. But in what is turning out to be a less-than-imposing ACC, the window for that is getting smaller.

Speaking of teams that are improving, move Duke to the top of that list. Duke's defense has been tough all season, and on Saturday the Blue Devils completely befuddled N.C.State. They had the Pack completely out of sorts.

Duke is also showing offensive improvement. Now, N.C. State doesn't defend well, but Duke limited their turnovers and shot over 50 percent. They never let the Wolfpack into the game, and the Blue Devils have now won three straight ACC games.

I like the way David McClure is playing off the bench. Against N.C. State, he scored 10 points and had four steals. He's one of those guys who likes to play and will do what the team needs him to do.

Gerald Henderson is gaining confidence, and you see it in every game. He's a finisher and more playing time could be in his future.

Duke, which has dominated the ACC for quite a while, is not that kind of team this season. But they're not bad and they're getting better. This is a huge week for them. They have Clemson and Boston College at home.

Clemson and Duke both have two losses in the league, and neither can afford to lose this one. The Tigers need to prove they can win a tough one on the road, while Duke must protect its home court, which it couldn't do against Virginia Tech.

With Sean Williams, I thought Boston College would challenge for the regular season. Without him ,no. They still have talent but not enough, and without Williams, they have no inside presence. Losing by 20 at Clemson is not encouraging.

These two games are huge for Duke, but also for Clemson and Boston College.

I was very disappointed with the way N.C. State competed against Duke. To lose is one thing, but to get blown out at home with a lackluster performance is another. I think Sidney Lowe felt the same way. State didn't come close to matching Duke's intensity.

Without Engin Atsur and his injured hamstring, the Wolfpack have no floor general. But they've played without him enough this season to get used to it. Atsur may be back this week, but will he be effective? N.C. State let a Duke team that struggled offensively just about the whole season do what they want.

N.C. State has Virginia coming to the RBC Center on Wednesday. I would hope for a better effort. The way they played against Duke that last place pre-season prediction didn't look so far fetched.

Yes, I know there's still Miami and Wake Forest to hold them up.