Maryland and Duke. Duke and North Carolina. North Carolina and Maryland. The ACC's got all of these games. From December to February, these three teams will be battling for position, and will clash before the conference champion emerges before March Madness. Is there a favorite to take home the crown? Right now, Duke's the answer. With the great Elton Brand, Trajan Langdon, and that fearsome frontcourt, the Blue Devils will do their best to erase that nightmare against Cincy which cost them the No. 1 ranking. If they happen to fall, the Maryland Terrapins will jump at every opportunity to regain their second spot in the polls, and may perhaps take No. 1 if UConn tumbles as well. North Carolina seems to be a longshot with Maryland and Duke in the picture, but Ed Cota, Ademola Okulaja, and Jason Capel have picked up the slack pretty well. While Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter (now waiting for the NBA lockout to end) wish they played another season with the Tar Heels, North Carolina has fallen a bit, but they are still flying high with the rest of the pack.
Another interesting area is the Pac-10, which may be the deepest conference in the country. UCLA's Fab-Five freshmen have not lived up to their full potential, but are still playing some mighty good basketball. Stanford struggled a bit out of the gate, with Arthur Lee and Kris Weems not finding their shots, but now they look to wrap up the West. Arizona is still unblemished with a perfect record, and even without Bibby, Simon, and Dickerson, the Wildcats have excelled with the help of A.J. Bramlett and Jason Terry. When UCLA and Arizona meet on Jan. 2, it may decide who takes the Pac-10. Washington has made a statement by burning New Mexico, and despite losing three straight to No. 1 UConn and unranked Boise St. and Gonzaga, the Huskies are playing some great basketball right now. Deon Luton and the giant Todd MacCulloch are playing very well for Washington. Finally, it's Cal that has been the surprise so far. Everybody knew they'd be pretty good, with Geno Carlisle and Thomas Kilgore, but 9-1? Incredible!
The Big Ten has been great so far, with Indiana, Purdue, Minnesota, Michigan State, and Iowa all in the Top 25. The Big East is not the huge powerhouse it once was, but it has the No. 1 team in the country in UConn and a host of other strong teams in Syracuse and St. John's. The biggest disappointment thus far has been the A-10, as Temple, UMass, and Xavier have not lived up to their preseason hype.
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