Maybe Duke’s loss to Virginia Tech wasn’t as bad as some might have thought. It’s still a home loss, which you can’t afford in the ACC, and it’s still a game they should have won, considering that they played their worst game of the year and still nearly won. However, Tech was a good team last year but had more downs than ups, most not related to basketball, and didn’t quite have the year they could have. This year, they have had quite a start in the ACC. Today, a week after the Duke game, the Hokies knocked off #1 North Carolina 94-88 in Blacksburg. I said the ACC was going to be tough this year. It may be more so than I realized.

Clemson has also gotten off to a good start, remaining the only unbeaten team in college basketball…until today. Maryland ended Clemson’s winning streak today in College Park. Next up for Clemson? North Carolina. Should be an interesting game with both teams coming off of a loss. Clemson will be at home, but Carolina is the better team.

Now, the ACC standings don’t exactly look like you’d expect. Boston College and Virginia Tech are at the top, the only two teams unbeaten in conference play, with Clemson, Miami and UNC with 1 loss. Yes, it’s early - only 3 or 4 games in for most teams. But, it looks like it could be a wild year in the ACC.

Speaking of the ACC, they are dominating women’s basketball again this year. I began to gradually become more and more interested in women’s college basketball in 1999, the year both Duke teams - men and women - reached the final four and the national championship game. Duke has continued to be among the elite teams in women’s basketball as well, with four Final Four appearances since 1999.

In the last couple of years, the ACC has become even more dominate on the national scene as well. Last season’s final four included three ACC teams (Duke, Maryland, UNC), where Maryland beat UNC and then Duke for the title (Maryland finished 3rd in the ACC behind UNC and Duke). Coming into today, those same three teams were undefeated and ranked #1 (Maryland), #2 (UNC) and #3 (Duke). And, it’s very possible that those three teams indeed are the best three in the country. Duke, like their men’s team, lost several seniors, but is still very solid with seniors like Lindsey Harding and Allison Bales. Maryland and Carolina have a lot of players returning from last year’s final four teams, so they are no surprise at the top, either.

Maryland came to Cameron Indoor today for a rematch of that title game with the #3 Lady Devils and got hammered 81-62. It was similar to the beating Duke put on Tennessee when they came to town last year. Duke is not significantly better than Maryland, if at all, but they outplayed them all over the floor today, with Harding scoring 28 points and Bales scoring 18, grabbing 12 rebounds, and blocking 7 shots. Their defense is what really did Maryland in, though. It was a great win for Duke, who goes on the road to NC State and #4 Tennessee this week. Duke and North Carolina remain the only undefeated teams (or at least among the ranked teams) in women’s basketball. Both could fall this week as Duke, again, plays at Tennessee and North Carolina hosts #5 Connecticut.