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I hope this entry satisfies Jeff Carlton. So sorry to disappoint him by not posting a "Live from Cassell" entry up in Blacksburg.

Speaking of which, that's a nasty little home venue the Hokies have up there. The perfect size, around 10,000 or so, with no real upper or lower level, just seats from the floor up to the rafters. Students all positioned on one end, just like at Wake. Lots and lots of noise. Hard to say if it rattled the Blue Devils, but the home court advantage definitely helped out the young Hokies, who used the crowd's energy to keep them in the game early in the second half before surging ahead at the end....

Folks keep asking me for my prediction tonight and I keep giving the same honest - albeit cowardly - response - "I have no idea."

Look, I've been so wrong so many times so far this ACC season that my predictions wouldn't have any credibility even if I did make them.

Here's what I will say - This is the most important game of the season for Duke. This is the point - I believe - where we start to draw some conclusions about the Blue Devils. Are they the team we thought they were at the beginning of the season, NCAA tournament bound, maybe Sweet 16, but a tier below Wake and UNC? A loss tonight would seem to confirm that.

Or is Duke still a group of overachievers, using its Big Three and the coaching wiles of Krzyzewski to turn itself into a national title contender? A win tonight would keep Duke alive for a top-two finish in the ACC and keep the Blue Devils in the same discussion as UNC and Wake Forest. Teams that are in that conversation can still be talking about reservations for St. Louis.

Maybe that's too simplistic, but it just seems like we've hit a dividing point here for Duke.

As for Wake, I'd still like to see them get a quality road win before I go ahead and pencil them in for St. Louis. As good as Deacons are, their most impressive road win might be at Miami.

The key tonight? I think it's Shelden Williams. He looked a bit lost against Virginia Tech on Wednesday, constantly ending his post moves underneath the backboard, forcing him to lean back into the court to put up his shot. As a result, he made only six of 13 shots from in close.

Also, in the first matchup, in Winston-Salem, Williams looked tentative from the start, so worried about avoiding foul trouble that it seemed as if he began the game with three fouls. As a result, Eric Williams had a very strong performance down low, particularly on the offensive boards.

Tonight, Williams - Shelden, that is - must play loose and agressive and get an outright win in his matchup with Eric Williams. Of course, he still has to do that while staying out of foul trouble. A tall order, to be sure. But hey, no one said beating Wake would be easy.