ACC Tournament 2012: Why Duke Is Still the Team to Beat in ACC

"Live by the three, die by the three," nobody knows this better than the Duke Blue Devils.

Their 28.6 percent three-point shooting performance in the season-ending finale against North Carolina cost them a regular season ACC Championship and they know that can't happen again.

Shooting 41 percent from the field certainly didn't help, neither did letting the Tar Heels bigs out-rebound them by 20 boards, but being able to shoot the three makes that all go away.

In the first meeting between the two ACC powerhouses, Duke drained 14-of-36 threes including a buzzer-beating game-winner.

They were out-rebounded by 10 boards in that game, they shot only 43 percent from the field and 65 percent from the free-throw line, but they still went on to win because they could shoot the three.

That is, and always will be, part of Duke's game and because of it they're still the team to beat in the ACC tourney.

The Tar Heels are easily the second-most talented team in the country behind Kentucky. They have two tree trunks under the basket, a bona fide scorer and a point guard who can control the game on both ends of the court.

However, UNC has also found a way to meltdown. They were blown out by UNLV and Florida State and blew a dominant second-half performance against Duke in Chapel Hill in the final two minutes of the game.

The Blue Devils, meanwhile, were only dominated once all season and that was early on against Ohio State in Columbus. Their three other losses prior to the blowout this weekend were all by five points or less.

There were no meltdowns from Duke until they hosted the Tar Heels on Saturday night and that is something coach Mike Krzyzewski will not let his team forget.

The Tar Heels have to win three games before they're crowned ACC tournament champions, the same amount as Duke, and to consider the Tar Heels favorites over the Blue Devils would be a mistake. Not only does Duke have a better chance at making it through the tourney unscathed, but they have a better chance of winning it too.