"Is this the ACC?"

Quick. Answer this for me: What's the only men's college basketball team in the ACC (and the nation) undefeated?

"Um… North Carolina?"

Ehhh.

"Oh, gotta be Duke"

Ehhh.

"Well, then, must be Maryland."

Ehhh.

The correct answer would be - drum roll, please - Clemson. Yes, those feisty Tigers, who haven't made the NCAA tournament since 1997, are 17-0, including 3-0 in the perennially tough ACC.

Except - and this is the first time I've ever caught myself saying this - how good, really, is the ACC this season?

Yes, North Carolina is No. 1 in the land. The Tar Heels could win their second national title in three years. But besides them, and the surprise Tigers, the league is definitely down.

I have never seen Duke struggle so much to score. For the first time in ages, the Blue Devils are averaging less than 70 points a game. For the first time since the pre-Elton Brand days, they lack a score-at-will player. For the first time since 1996, Duke has lost its first two ACC games - against Virginia Tech at home and Georgia Tech on the road.

Whatttt??

Yeah, I'm surprised as the next guy. And what's even crazier is that Georgia Tech beat Duke Wednesday night despite turning the ball over a heart-attack-inducing 28 times. Are you kidding me? Any normal Duke team would turn those miscues into easy layups on the other end.

Except this team. Coach K has done a remarkable job to go 13-3 with the team he has, preaching great defense, because clearly these Blue Devils have the makeup of a Creighton team, not a Duke team.

The talent isn't exactly spewing forth from Tobacco Road's other hotbeds, either (minus Chapel Hill). NC State, under first-year coach (and famous alumnus), Sydney Lowe, got beat at home by those Tigers the other night. They're 10-6 overall and dead last in the ACC at 0-3. Wake Forest is still reeling from the loss of Chris Paul two years ago. The Demon Deacons are just 9-6 overall and 1-2 in the conference.

There are only four ranked teams in the ACC. And one of them - Maryland - is just No. 25 in the country, and will likely fall out of the rankings after a dismal home loss Wednesday to 9-8 Miami.

What is going on here?

When was the last time you could name two conferences that are better than the ACC? Well, this year I'd say it's safe to anoint the Pac 10 and SEC as more competitive. And the Big East and Big 12 aren't too far behind.

Usually the ACC is far and away the best conference in basketball. Not this time around. To put it simply, the talent is lacking.

North Carolina is very, very talented. Georgia Tech has a slew of very talented freshmen, who also turn the ball over A LOT. Besides these teams, it's hard to think of big names in the ACC. Most of the nation's top players - Joakim Noah, Kevin Durant, Aaron Afflalo, Alando Tucker, Greg Oden, to name a handful - play in the other major conferences. That right there is why the ACC is down this year.

I could see only four or five teams from the ACC making the NCAA tournament this year. And I only see the Tar Heels competing for the national title. That is very rare. Usually, when filling out my brackets, there are three or four ACC teams I view as capable of cutting down the nets.

But this is that year. That year of oddities.

Obviously, things could change during the remainder of the conference season and the ACC tournament, but for now the forecast is this: North Carolina should win the conference crown rather easily; Clemson will falter, but still make its first NCAA tournament appearance in 10 years; and the other teams, including the Dukies, will have to scrap their way to secure a Big Dance birth.

Just like the Tigers have been unsuccessfully attempting to do for the past decade.