Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels the ACC's Only Chance All over again

If you have ever been to that party in which a bunch of people RSVP'd, but just a few in fact showed up, you understand exactly what the ACC has felt like for the last few seasons. Heading into the final stretch of conference play, the Duke Blue Devils and New york Tar Heels are once more the only two teams within the conference with significantly of a opportunity to make any noise within the NCAA tournament. It's not precisely news to see Duke and North Carolina towards the top of the ACC?athe arch-rivals are the powerhouses of the conference, for sure. They combine for seven from the last eight NCAA titles owed towards the ACC (the other becoming Maryland in 2002) and 13 of the last 14 ACC tournament titles.

Still, the inability of the rest of the ACC schools to complement the Blue Devils and Tar Heels on the national stage is really a concerning trend that doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon, and it's beginning to hurt the ACC's reputation as one of the most dominant conferences in college basketball. Apart from Duke and North Carolina, no ACC team has created it to the Sweet 16 since 2006 when Boston College lost to Villanova by one point in overtime?athat's a fairly sad stat. There have been many teams in that stretch, for example Wake Forest in 2009, have been expected to be legitimate tournament threats, but no one has delivered save for the rivals of Tobacco Road. This season was supposed to be diverse.

While everybody expected Duke to become the team to beat and North Carolina to be back as a conference contender (they took the scenic route but they're headed inside the right path), there have been a number of ACC squads who looked poised to make some noise inside the conference and beyond first of the season. Virginia Tech had a possibility to be a real force this year and a staple within the top 25 polls. Seth Greensberg returned all 5 of last season's starters which includes 2010 All-ACC members Malcolm Delaney (initial team) and Derenzo Hudson (third team). However, Hudson and returning starter JT Thompson suffered season-ending injuries at the start of the season along with the Hokies have suffered as a result.

North Carolina State was a team full of promise in the beginning of the season with Tracy Smith back and a trio of touted freshmen giving Sidney Lowe the most talented group in his tenure. An injured knee took Smith out for many of the non-conference season, nevertheless, and the talented freshmen struggled to carry the team in his absence. Smith is back now, but the Wolfpack haven't been in a position to construct significantly momentum in conference play. Florida State was starting to look like a very risky team just a couple weeks ago when they took down then No. 1 Duke. They happen to be inconsistent, even so, and the loss of their star junior, Chris Singleton, could spell disaster for that remainder of their season.

The rest of the ACC does not have significantly to show for the season so far, and it is seemingly once again as much as Duke and New york to represent the conference. There are undoubtedly some legitimate explanations why the conference has seen such a large letdown this year. 3 schools have new coaches. There is definitely going to be an adjustment period when that happens. The conference has been completely devastated by the injury bug. Kyrie Irving (Duke), Hudson (VT), Singleton (FSU), Thompson (VT) and Mike Scott (Virginia) could be easily a top 25 beginning lineup.