Foul Shots

Nothing about this ACC season is sacred for staff writer J.P. Giglio.

ISHMAEL SMITH

The Deacs are the kings of generic last names -- seriously, look at their regular starting lineup: Smith, Johnson and Williams -- and Ish is the king of clutch. His twin game-winning jumpers over Virginia Tech and Miami have the surprising Deacs at .500 in the ACC.

GAVIN GRANT

So the Double G was off with his four-loss prediction. Given the pablum we're fed on a daily basis from athletes and coaches on all levels, we needn't discourage his special brand of chutzpah.

And if he plays like he did on Thursday at Duke, Grant has a license to speak his mind.

The Gators will repeat ... as SEC champions. Like Magic (wink!), Billy Donovan's boys are 5-1 in the conference and getting better every week.

GREG PAULUS

Foul Shots isn't the only one who has noticed the Duke junior's flair for theatrics. In the second half of Duke's 92-72 win over N.C. State, Paulus reacted to a screen from the Wolfpack's Brandon Costner like he was hit by a shovel.

After the exaggeration, official Mike Eades pulled Paulus aside and warned him: "Don't do that again."

And before you fire off that angry e-mail, Duke fan, Paulus, with his 22 points and six assists, was clearly the reason Duke won on Thursday but he needs to do so in a more gentlemanly (emphasis on "manly") manner.

DOUBLE STANDARD

The ACC gets blasted, and deservedly so, in football because the conference does not have an elite team at the national level.

In basketball, the ACC has two elite teams -- UNC and Duke are both in the top 5 of the RPI -- yet it gets hammered for being top-heavy.

You can't have it both ways, people. Give the ACC its due in hoops.

Current media darling, the Pac-10, ranks behind the ACC in Ken Pomeroy's version of the conference RPI.

For the record, the ACC's worst team, Virginia (108 in the RPI), beat the Pac-10's highest-rated team, Arizona (7), on the road.

WANNA BET?

In the spirit of Super Bowl prop bets, an odds-on take of Wednesday's Duke-Carolina game:

15 Number of times Gerald Henderson's foul is replayed

5 Number of times Billy Packer argues "he was going for the ball"

1-to-7 Odds Psycho T loses a contact lens

7-to-1 Psycho T loses a contact lens via a Henderson foul

Even Ol' Roy leaves Psycho T in the game with 14.5 seconds left

RANKING THE ACC

1. Duke: The Blue Devils' last Final Four appearance? San Antonio in 2004. This year's Final Four site? Hmm.

2. UNC: John Edwards thinks you're No. 1. That makes one State grad.

T3. Maryland, Clemson, Miami, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Boston College, Virginia Tech: You tell me the difference between these eight teams.

11. Florida State: What's more embarrassing: the effort at Virginia Tech or Leonard Hamilton's contract extension?

12. Virginia: It has been a long 2008 with Sean Singletary. It will be even longer in 2009 without him.