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Once, twice, three times? Maybe

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	• Storylines • Dunks & Air Balls • You Gotta See This • They Said It • The Number • The Chris Marcus Watch • The Sixth Man

It’s enough to make you sick.

Gagging, dry-heaving, crawling-around-on-the-cold-bathroom-tile sick. Unless of course you’re a Duke fan.

Only the Blue Devils could win the national championship, lose the national player of the year and return the following year improved.

It’s disgusting. Enviable, too.

So here we are, at the start of another college basketball season and Duke sits atop the rankings. Right where it sat at the end of last year, when the Blue Devils won 35 of 39 games, finished second in the nation in scoring (90.7 points a game) and won the Atlantic Coast Conference NCAA tournaments.

They lost to graduation everybody’s All American Shane Battier, the team’s glue, guts and go-to guy.

And they’re going to be better this year.

Feeling woozy yet? There’s plenty more.

Any coach will tell you that backcourts win championships, and Duke has the nation’s best. While point guard Jason Williams could be dropping 15-20 points a night in the NBA right now, he opted to score 20-25 points a game in the ACC instead. He’s simply the best, most fearless player in the nation.

Williams alone would put Duke in the top 10. His supporting cast makes the Blue Devils No. 1. Shooting guard Chris Duhon pairs a 2.85-to-1 turnover/assist ratio with deadly shooting accuracy. Forward Mike Dunleavy is one of the nation’s smartest players, best passers and clutch shooters.

Dunleavy carried Duke in the national championship game against Arizona with four 3-pointers in the second half 21 total points.

Carlos Boozer and newcomer Dahntay Jones round out the starting five. Jones, a transfer from Rutgers, won’t make people forget about Battier (they play the same position), but may be Duke’s most athletic player and he will be a force in the ACC.

Boozer isn’t a classic shot-blocking center, but his ability to bang, defend and finish around the basket make him perfect for the Duke offensive system.

Beyond sheer talent, it’s the Blue Devils’ offense that makes them so great. Duke lives and dies (lives mostly) off a penetrate-and-pitch game. Williams can take just about anyone off the dribble and get to the paint, where he can shoot, dish to Boozer or, more often, kick to an open Duhon or Dunleavy for an open 3-point look.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s philosophy says if we shoot 40 percent from 3-point range and you shoot 45 percent from inside the arc, we’ll win every time.

It works.

Duke led the nation with 1,057 3-point attempts last year, 209 more than the next closest team (UNC-Charlotte). They’re not quite Loyola-Marymount circa 1989, but figuring the Blue Devils made 39 percent of their attempts, it’s not difficult to see how they win so many games.

Duke will employ the same system this year. The Blue Devils will look much the same, only more athletic with Jones on the wing. They’ll hoist threes. They’ll harass on defense. They’ll win 30 games.

The good news for the rest of the nation is that it is nearly impossible to repeat as national champions. In fact, only one team has won back-to-back titles since 1973.

Of course, that one team is Duke.

Starting over Love him or love to hate him, Bobby Knight returns to college basketball with a rebuilding project at Texas Tech. His presence alone will stiffen an already tough Big 12, though his Red Raiders will struggle this year as just four players return from last year’s 9-19 team (3-13 in the Big 12). Don’t expect Knight to be a changed man. Sooner or later, he’ll explode. He always does. The question is, what will his old friend, athletic director Gerald Myers do about it? Picking up the pieces Everything changed for the Oklahoma State basketball program on the night of Jan. 27. After playing Colorado in Boulder, the team was to fly through a snowstorm back to Stillwater on three planes -- two private jets and a prop plane. Horrifically, the latter crashed and killed all 10 aboard, including players Nate Fleming and Dan Lawson and Cowboys staffers Will Hancock, Pat Noyes, Brian Luinstra, Jared Weiberg, Kendall Durfey and broadcaster Bill Teegins. The Cowboys went 7-5 after the crash and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to USC. Nothing will erase the memory of that tragic night. But led by the complete game of senior guard Maurice Baker (19.8 ppg., 6.7 rpg., 4.2 apg.), OSU will contend with Kansas and Missouri for the Big 12 title.

DUNK: St. Joesph’s Guards Marvin O’Conner and Jameer Nelson can compete with any backcourt tandem in the nation. Their big splash in last year’s NCAA tourney propelled Hawks into the many Top 10s. AIR BALL: Five/Eight Scholarship Rule Meant to keep coaches from running players off, the obscure rule penalizes teams that lose players to NBA. Thankfully, the NCAA put a moratorium on the rule this year and added one scholarship. DUNK: John Calipari In two short seasons, Memphis coach is on his way to turning around the Tigers’ program. Calipari’s project received a boost when he landed prized recruit Dajuan Wagner. AIR BALL: Cory Bradford Illinois senior guard enters the season as one of the nation’s most one-dimensional and overrated players. Set NCAA record of 88 straight games with at least one 3-pointer with many 1-of-8 and 2-of-10 nights. DUNK: TCU The always high-scoring Horned Frogs the favorites for the “All-Name Team” with guys like Nucleus Smith, Bingo Merriex and Rebel Paulk. AIR BALL: Herb Sendek N.C. State coach’s seat is so hot, he may spend the whole season standing. The Wolfpack haven’t qualified for the NCAA tournament since 1991. Sendek’s sixth year will be his last if this doesn’t change.

Arizona-Maryland, Florida-Temple in Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament, Thursday-Friday, ESPN2 Welcome back, college hoops! What a treat. Arizona-Maryland is the 2001 national championship game if Duke doesn’t come back from 22 down to beat the Terps in the semifinal game. How will Florida’s gunners deal with Temple’s fierce match-up zone? Here’s the bonus: Winners and losers play on Friday, so we’re guaranteed four potentially great games. NEED CODE FOR BIG BLUE NUMBER (and i need a number … lancaster? maybe all the coaching changes??) NEED PLUS IMAGE OF MARCUS … In previous years, this space was dedicated to castigating the likes of classic stiffs such as Kansas’ Eric Chenowith and North Carolina’s Brendan Haywood. This year, we’re going the other way. Introducing Western Kentucky’s Chris Marcus, a 7-foot-1, 285-pound beast of a human, who will become a star by season’s end. He’s played organized basketball for all of four years, but he’s already mentioned as a top 10 pick in next year’s NBA draft. Marcus’ stats last season: 16.7 points, 12.1 boards (No. 1 in the nation) and 2.9 swats a game. Don’t just sit there. Get in the game. Each week we’ll ask for your thoughts on a specific topic and publish a sample of those opinions the following week. We started the season by asking you who are the most overrated and underrated teams. Here’s what you said: Iowa is underrated. With a healthy Luke Recker and the "man-child" Reggie Evans, we will be great. That is not even mentioning fabulous freshmen Pierre Pierce. Nate Phipps, Wayne, Neb. St. Joseph’s as a top ten team? Please. Because they got hot for two games now they are supposed to be in the Top 10 according to all these experts? I'm not saying they aren't good, but Top 10? Jon D., California All Tulsa does is win 20-25 games every year, make some noise in the tournament, crank out head coaches for the rest of the nation and graduate its players. And every year it gets no respect. Mike Bilbow, Tulsa, Okla. Georgetown is always, always, always overrated. When the toughest team on their non-conference schedule is Stonybrook -- the women’s team -- you know they play a soft schedule. And since the girls could beat them handily ... well, you do the math. Dennis Papenmeier, Indianapolis This week’s topic: Who has the toughest schedule in the nation? Your name: Your e-mail address: Your hometown: Your take here (in 25 words or less) This week's topic: Who has the best backcourt in the nation? (25 words or less.) Your name: Your e-mail address: Your hometown: Your take here (in 25 words or less) Stewart Mandel covers college football for CNNSI.com. "Week at a Glance" appears each Monday during the season. Copyright © 2001 CNN/Sports Illustrated An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.