Atlantic Coast Conference

Duke@Clemson 9 p.m. [ESPN] No, Dick Vitale doesn't call every Duke game on ESPN. This time, Jay Bilas (at right in photo) is in the analyst seat. No. 10 Clemson has lost 22 of its past 23 against the No. 4 Blue Devils, but the victory came in their most recent meeting, in last season's Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals.

Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford has been affiliated with the league since 1973, and he struggled this week to recall when there was as much balance in men's basketball as there was this season, lending to a truly wide-open ACC tournament. With the top five teams in the league separated by one game, and a shift in power from the state of North Carolina to Virginia, it seems as if anything can happen this week at the tournament, which begins tomorrow at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla. Maryland vs. Miami ACC tournament first round, tomorrow, 2:30 p.m. (approximate)

COLLEGE PARK-- --Five years after coaching Maryland to the national championship, not much has changed for - or about - Gary Williams. At 62, he still can be combative and thin-skinned, and he usually is at his best when things appear at their worst. A little more than a month ago, his Terrapins were 3-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and seemed destined for their third straight appearance in the National Invitation Tournament. Williams was once again being skewered on radio talk shows and Internet message boards.

It happened in the month of March, in Greensboro, N.C., but the 25th anniversary of one of the greatest games in the history of college basketball might be marked on Feb. 10 in Raleigh, N.C.That's when Maryland and N.C. State will play their second Atlantic Coast Conference game of the season. Their first meeting will come Sunday at Cole Field House, but the Terps' memories of March 9, 1974, aren't as fond as the ones carried by the Wolfpack.In N.C. State's 103-100 overtime victory in the title game of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, the nation's No. 1 team held off No. 4.The game pitted David Thompson, Tom Burleson and Monte Towe against Tom McMillen, Len Elmore and John Lucas, but the talent alone isn't what made it a classic.

0 Times more than the champion was invited to the NCAA tournament from the Ivy League.2 Big Ten teams with 8-10 league records invited to the tournament, Indiana in 1990 and Wisconsin in 1994.3 Mid-American Conference teams invited to last year's tournament, the most in league history.4 Times the Atlantic Coast Conference received fewer than five bids since 1980, most recently in 1995. 9 Big Ten teams with .500 records or better in the league that didn't get invited during the 1990s.Pub Date: 2/26/99

It has been a rather blase season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, where a pecking order was established early. There were few results that upset the hierarchy, but at least the final weekend of the regular season has the makings of a monumental matchup.Duke, which began the season ranked No. 1 and intends to end it there, can become the first team to go 16-0 over its conference schedule since the ACC expanded to nine teams in 1991. The conclusion of that effort comes tomorrow at North Carolina, where the Blue Devils have lost seven straight.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Maryland will go into the basketball season with plenty of national recognition, but the Terps are still playing second banana in the Atlantic Coast Conference.According to preseason publications, the Terps are a consensus No. 5 nationally. That would be good enough to make them the favorite in nearly all of the 30 Division I leagues, but life isn't that easy in the Atlantic Coast Conference, where preseason choice Duke will get plenty of No. 1 votes when the first national poll appears next month.

Motivated by SteadmanI thoroughly enjoyed John Steadman's March 9 column, "3 teens took to field of dreams; 2 defied odds in reaching glory." In his column, I was able to relate to how easy it can be to succeed if you want it badly enough.He explained how Nelson Fox didn't let the critics put him down and slowly but surely reached his goal. This past weekend, I won the Maryland state wrestling championship, which I worked hard for. Leading up to this event, I never received as much attention as previous state champions, but realized it would come with victory.

Kentucky is No. 1 and Central Florida is No. 64.In between, there are a mess of decisions for the nine-man committee that selects the 34 at-large teams for the NCAA tournament and seeds the entire field. In a weekend of debate, they will sift through reams of computer printouts, fit in the Big West champion at the end, announce the 64-team field tonight (6: 30, Chs. 13, 9), and await the complaints.One burning question, especially for Clemson, Minnesota and Providence, is whether any conference deserves six bids.

MIAMI -- If yesterday's 48-10 loss to Florida State was his last game as Maryland's football coach, Mark Duffner left on the high road.It was the Terps' turn to host this Atlantic Coast Conference mismatch, but it was sold last year by athletic director Debbie Yow to a promoter for $1 million. After an early 7-0 lead was drowned out by the Seminoles' talent and a crowd of 31,989 doing the Tomahawk Chop at Pro Player Stadium, Duffner refused to criticize the move."That's old stuff," Duffner said.

College field hockey Maryland blanks Duke, 3-0, clinches top-2 finish in ACC The No. 1 Maryland field hockey team shut out No. 14 Duke, 3-0, in Durham, N.C., on Saturday afternoon. Maryland moved to 14-0 this season and 4-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, while Duke fell to 6-6 overall and 0-4 in the ACC. Freshman Megan Frazer scored twice to put the Terps on top. "The coaching staff is very pleased with the outcome. From a postseason point of view, it gives us an opportunity to have a bye in the ACC tournament, which is exciting," coach Missy Meharg said.

By meeting academic and athletic goals spelled out in his contract, Gary Williams has earned another year as Maryland men's basketball coach. Williams, about to enter his 21st season leading his alma mater, is now signed until June 30, 2013. Williams' contract, amended a number of times, has been said by the university to be worth more than $2 million per year if he meets all academic and athletic incentives. "I'm pleased for Gary that he met the competitive and academic benchmarks of his contract," Maryland director of athletics Debbie Yow said in a written statement.

One of the forces behind the Atlantic Coast Conference's decision in 2003 to expand was the conference's desire to increase its television revenue, which in turn would increase the bank accounts of its member institutions, including Maryland. The league, with deep roots in North Carolina and the mid-Atlantic states, added attractive media markets with Boston College and Miami and, initially, expansion paid off. In 2004, the ACC sold its football broadcasting rights to ABC and ESPN for $260 million over seven years.

Duke@Clemson 9 p.m. [ESPN] No, Dick Vitale doesn't call every Duke game on ESPN. This time, Jay Bilas (at right in photo) is in the analyst seat. No. 10 Clemson has lost 22 of its past 23 against the No. 4 Blue Devils, but the victory came in their most recent meeting, in last season's Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals.

It took a lot to overshadow a rare Atlantic Coast Conference matchup of brothers, both of whom had a double double. Iman Shumpert found a way. The freshman hit a pull-up jumper with one second remaining to lift Georgia Tech to its first Atlantic Coast Conference win, a 76-74 upset of No. 6 Wake Forest yesterday in Atlanta. Shumpert had only five points before tying the score on a basket with 20 seconds remaining and then hitting his winning shot. Wake Forest committed two turnovers in the final 35 seconds and lost to the ACC's last-place team only three days after beating top-ranked Duke.

A story in The Sporting News yesterday says the Atlantic Coast Conference is the nation's best conference -- beter even than the Big East, which has been getting so much pub. (For more, go to baltimoresun.com/terpsblog

It took awhile, but Gerald Henderson and No. 2 Duke are finally starting to shoot well enough to impress even J.J. Redick. Henderson scored 21 points and the Blue Devils shot 76 percent in the second half of their 73-56 victory over North Carolina State last night. Nolan Smith hit consecutive three-pointers 30 seconds apart to start the decisive run for the Blue Devils (17-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). But it wasn't until Henderson took the game over by hitting jumpers and driving the lane for authoritative dunks that his teammates started to find the seams in the Wolfpack's defense.

I couldn't help but notice those empty seats in Tampa, Fla., last weekend during the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game. Here's the thing about the ACC. All this parity (mediocrity?) is great for the individual campuses because each school can imagine it has a shot at the title. And most do have a shot. But having no dominant teams - no heavyweights - doesn't play as well on the national stage because there's no compelling story line. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/terpsblog)

One week into the college football season might be a little early to remind everybody of what a disaster the big expansion was for the Atlantic Coast Conference. Or maybe not. Another year, another lone guaranteed spot in a Bowl Championship Series game for the not-so-new, not-so-super conference. On the first day of September, of course, there's no guarantee that the rest of the season will follow the path of the opening weekend. But it would take the rest of the country's plunging back to the ACC pack to get more than one team playing on or around New Year's Day. It has been said before, and it has to be said again: It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Think Duke is off its game in recent years? It's not alone. Its entire conference is not feeling the Madness these days, either. Feeling mad, yes, because for the second time in three years, the NCAA tournament began with the hallowed Atlantic Coast Conference carrying a chip on its shoulder, beefing about being disrespected, griping that it's under-represented in the 65-team field. And, once again, most of its smaller-than-usual contingent are leaving without getting their dance cards punched.