FanHouse JonScheyer

BOSTON -- He looks like a chew toy, or something out of a puppet show. His dreads flop over a headband that would stand out more prominently if not for a midsection best described as doughy. His name is Levance Fields, and sometimes, he'll drive you to exasperation with reckless dribbling into traffic and corkscrew jumpshots heaved for no apparent purpose or reason.

BOSTON -- He looks like a chew toy, or something out of a puppet show. His dreads flop over a headband that would stand out more prominently if not for a midsection best described as doughy. His name is Levance Fields, and sometimes, he'll drive you to exasperation with reckless dribbling into traffic and corkscrew jumpshots heaved for no apparent purpose or reason.

Virginia Tech needed a crucial win at home to solidify its NCAA tournament status with only two games remaining on its regular-season ACC schedule. But a Nolan Smith-less Blue Devil squad likely had a few points to prove as well.

And the Blue Devils' agenda won out.

That is, after a little controversy and a heckuva run by the Hokies.

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Maryland-Duke is not a rivalry to be taken lightly, even if Duke did wallop the Terps by 41 in Cameron earlier this season. Now that Maryland is firmly on the bubble (and climbing), though, the stakes are raised again. Which may explain why Maryland fans are going all out in their pre-game prep for Wednesday night's matchup.

"All out" here doesn't just mean "making funny chant sheets," either; the Terps have not only created Facebook groups dedicated to "Operation: Scheyerface 2.0" (via Joe Ovies) but they also spent the week prank-calling Duke's hotel room.

This time, the gloves came off. So too, did the jacket.

Mike Krzyzewski was right, the biggest thing to fear about Wake Forest was their seven-day layoff, and the resulting time for the Demon Deacons to stew on a loss to Virginia Tech that ended their time as the No. 1 team in the nation.

But Coach K was also wrong. Wake Forest's ability to dominate in the paint against Duke propelled them to a thrilling 70-68 win over the Blue Devils.

Ranking the rankings criticizes the critics as soon as the polls come out.

Headlining: It's obvious, right? Duke tops both polls for the first time since the end of the 2005-06 regular season and we're all depressed ecstatic! I want to say that it's hard to like this Blue Devil team, but when is it easy to like Duke? (Answer: When you're a Duke fan. Or when the Blue Devils are playing Carolina.) That being said, the 2008-09 incarnation isn't nearly as hate-able as previous teams.

If you turned on the Duke-Purdue game last night in the second half, you probably saw a familiar situation. Greg Paulus was running the point, getting the ball to Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer, the team's playmakers. When he wasn't doing that, Paulus was knocking down some jumpers, and finished with a respectable seven points in 22 minutes.

What you didn't catch is Paulus holding down the bench as the starters took the Mackey Arena floor to start the game. Sophomore Nolan Smith has taken the reigns at point guard for Mike Krzyzewski while Paulus, the face of Duke basketball, and a three-year starter, is coming off the bench to contribute.

If you don't know Paulus' story you don't really know what a freak this guy was. A high school product out of Syracuse, N.Y., Paulus was a star athlete in both basketball and football -- and when I say star, I mean, like, four stars. He was a specimen, a quarterback that could have picked just about any big-time football program over Duke basketball and been throwing passes before anyone realized what he'd done.

This week, FanHouse is taking an early look at the top teams heading into 2008 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. To help with the team capsules, we've brought in some of the top fan bloggers around the internets to give us insights on their teams.

Today, we have enlisted JD King of Duke Basketball Report to break down the Duke Blue Devils.

There has been a perception the last couple of years that Duke is off. If so, that's over. This Duke team is going to be very good.

The only player not back on last year's size-challenged team is DeMarcus Nelson. And Duke has added freshmen Miles Plumlee (6'11) and Olek Czyz (6'8) to returnees Brian Zoubek (7'1") and Lance Thomas (6'8") to the inside rotation. Zoubek is healthier than he has been in some time and Taylor is markedly improved and much stronger than he was last year.

Czyz will play less than the other three, but no matter how you cut it, this frees up 6'8" Kyle Singler to play anywhere he's useful on the court.

There are big things planned in Durham this year. While haters around the country are celebrating the supposed "demise" of the Blue Devils, they are gearing themselves for another Final Four run.

That swagger was nearly ruined by Rhode Island yesterday. The Rams gave Duke fits before losing, 82-79.

Rhode Island led much of the game behind Jimmy Baron's 23 points and the Rams hitting 10-of-14 from behind the arc. Duke, normally an excellent outside shooting team, struggled to hit just 4-of-17 from three.

The difference was free throws. Duke shot twice as many free throws as Rhode Island (32 to 16), including the Blue Devils' final six points to seal the win. After chasing the Rams all day, Kyle Singler hit two free throws to tie the game at 77-77. Singler and Jon Scheyer would then ice the game from the line and scoot bye with a win.

Duke did extend the nation's longest home winning streak against non-conference opponents to 62 games.

The Blue Devils will go on to finish off the 2K Sports Coaches vs Cancer Classic this week. They will take on Southern Illinois on Thursday before facing either UCLA or Michigan on Friday.