ACC Tournament 2012: Duke Setting Up North Carolina for Epic Upset

Move along. Nothing to see here, because North Carolina has the ACC tournament all wrapped up. Well, I beg to differ. 

Since they went through all the trouble of having this tournament, we may as well examine how likely it is that the champions are indeed the Tar Heels. 

Through it all, we can't help but notice the Duke Blue Devils are far more competent than they are being given credit for. 

I am not about to  pick apart North Carolina as overrated, because they are very much as branded: a tough team that can kill you on the inside and with an unrelenting attack. 

This is the time for upset to fill our TV screen and kill our brackets. That all gets started early with the ACC tournament. 

Gut Check Time

There is no better team at playing from behind than Duke. They may be inconsistent at times, but they nearly always claw their way back into games. 

This is the season when the battle-tested flourish, and Duke has the wounds to prove they have been through the trenches. 

Austin Rivers 

North Carolina and the rest of the field have their fair share of stars. For Duke, they will live and die at the hands of Austin Rivers, a budding young star that may be a Duke legend by the time he is done with college. 

Of course, it all depends which player shows up. He  had 29 points and went 6-of-10 from three-point land in Duke's January win over North Carolina.

In their loss, Rivers had 15 points but was 1-of-6 from beyond the arc. It all rests on Rivers, who I am banking on having a very big weekend. 

Hunger

After a great win over North Carolina and a win streak that had them eyeing a No. 1 seed, Duke laid an egg when ineffective shooting met inconsistent defense. 

Duke will be just fine. 

They will have a much bigger emphasis placed on defense during this time of year and have the bad taste of a Tar Heel whooping to keep them motivated. 

If guys like Ryan Kelly and Andre Dawkins get hot, this team is very tough to beat. 

Before you go crowning North Carolina, remember that magical things are prone to happen in March, and Duke winning sounds mighty magical to me. 

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