NCAA BASKETBALL: Duke's week to remember!

It was a week to remember for the Duke Blue Devils and their fans.

Ok, it was not exactly a week, but a week and a day, but that would not have been as good of a title for this article.

The point is, however, that the eight days between March 4-11, 2001 was most memorable for the Duke men's and women's basketball teams, and for the Blue Devil's fans as well.

In all, both teams captured their respective ACC Tournament Championships, both team's star players earned MVP honors at their respective ACC Tournament Championships, both teams garnered No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, and both teams have legitimate shots at winning the NCAA Championship title a few weeks from now as well.

Here's a look back at what Duke accomplished in those eight days.

Sunday, March 4, 2001 -- The Duke men traveled the 17 minutes from Durham to Chapel Hill to face archrival, North Carolina. The Tar Heels had beaten Duke by two points a month earlier, and now the Blue Devils were looking to even the score. However, they were going to have to play without one of their key players, Carlos Boozer, who was out with a broken bone in his foot. But it didn't matter. When the dust settled in the Dean Dome, Duke had beaten North Carolina 95-81. They won it on a barrage of 38 three-point attempts, of which they made 14. Duke's Shane Battier, who was just named Naismith Player of the Year and first-team All-American this past Tuesday, March 13, was superb, scoring 25 points, while pulling down 11 rebounds and getting five blocks. Duke's star point guard, Jason Williams, who also earned All-American honors this past Tuesday, had 33 points in the game as well. With the win, Duke earned a share of their fifth-consecutive ACC regular season title, which they shared with, who else, North Carolina.

Monday, March 5, 2001 -- The Duke women traveled the 60 minutes down I-40 to Greensboro, North Carolina, where they proceeded to defeat Wake Forest (78-64), Florida State (72-56), and North Carolina State (57-45) to take home their second consecutive ACC Tournament Championship title. In the win, Duke's Georgia Schweitzer, who was named Associated Press Player of the Year, ACC Player of the Year, and ACC Tournament MVP, scored nine points in the win over the Wolfpack, after scoring a combined 52 points in the first two games of the tournament. Duke's freshman phenom, Alana Beard, who was named ACC Rookie of the Year, scored 18 points in the win. With the victory, Blue Devil head coach, Gail Goestenkors, who arguably has her best team since 1999, the year Duke went to the Final Four, believed that with the ACC Tournament win, her team would get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They would find out if that assessment was true a few days later.

Saturday, March 10, 2001 -- After defeating N.C. State in their first game of the ACC Tournament, 76-61, the Duke men faced a formidable opponent in the second round -- the very hot, very focused, and very tough, Maryland Terrapins. The two teams had split during the regular season, Duke pulling off an incredible, comeback win at Maryland in their first meeting, while Maryland returned the favor, defeating Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium in their second meeting. This was the rubber game, and even though the pregame was ominous as the Blue Devil's team manager forgot to bring the Duke home uniforms, the game turned out to be a classic. In the end, Duke pulled off an 84-82 win on a tip-in by Nate James off a missed layup attempt by Williams with 1.3 seconds left in the game. Williams led Duke with 19 points in the victory, while Battier contributed 16 points, four blocks, and eight rebounds.

Sunday, March 11, 2001 -- (afternoon) -- Just when you didn't think it could get any better, Duke topped themselves in the ACC Tournament Championship, as they crushed North Carolina 79-53 to win their third consecutive ACC Tournament. With the win, head coach Mike Krzyzewski also earned his 600th career victory as well. Battier earned ACC Tournament MVP, as he scored 30 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in the win. Sophomore Mike Dunleavey scored a team-high 24 points and pulled down 13 rebounds too. The one downside was that Williams, who scored 15 points, sprained his ankle late in the game and it is now questionable as to how strong he will be in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Sunday, March 11, 2001 -- (evening) -- The seedings are announced for both the men's and women's NCAA Tournament and both Duke teams earn No. 1 seeds. The Duke women get the No. 1 seed in the west and, considering the teams on their side of the bracket, have an excellent chance of making it to the Final Four. The Duke men earned the No. 1 seed in the east, but might have a much harder path to the Final Four, as they could potentially face UCLA and Kentucky just to make it there. And then, depending on what happens in the other brackets, Duke could possibly end up facing Maryland in the National semifinals and North Carolina in the final. That would be something special for ACC fans, that's for sure.

Three weeks from now, the men's and women's Final Four matchups will be held in St. Louis, Missouri for the women, and Minneapolis, Minnesota for the men. If both Duke teams continue to play as well as they have, they could repeat what they did in 1999. That was the year that both teams not only made Final Four appearances, they also made it to their respective championship games as well.

In 1999, both teams unfortunately lost those championships.

Three weeks from now, if all goes well for the Blue Devils, there just might be a sequel to this story -- Duke's Week to Remember Part II. Stay tuned.