There is no sugar-coating the disappointing and surprisingly early ending to Duke's basketball season, 62-54 at the hands of Louisiana State in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

The Blue Devils were the overwhelming preseason favorite to win the national championship, and they entered this year's tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. They had the rare modern-day advantage of four seasoned seniors in their seven-man rotation, including two first-team All-Americans in guard J.J. Redick and center Shelden Williams. They had one of the most talented freshmen in the nation in forward Josh McRoberts. They also had the best coach in college basketball, Mike Krzyzewski, on the sidelines.

But they laid an egg against LSU.

Duke's senior-laden rotation fell to a group of Tigers that included six freshmen. The Blue Devils' star player, Redick, had one of the worst shooting games (3-18 FG) of his career (again) at the worst possible time. Lost behind the Redick meltdown was the fact that the team's complementary players -- Greg Paulus, Sean Dockery, Lee Melchionni and DeMarcus Nelson -- shot even WORSE than Redick, finishing a combined 3-19 from the field.

I've been saying this for years: In the postseason, you're only as strong as your weakest link. If any one of your rotation players is a liability at either end of the floor, he will be discovered and exploited to a greater degree than at any point in the regular season. In the end, Duke couldn't survive a horrible shooting night by its leading scorer because it had too many weak links, especially on offense.

Redick and Williams didn't turn down the big bucks of the NBA draft last year -- both were projected as first-round picks -- to finish in first place again or to win another ACC Tournament. They came back to win the NCAA title, to complete their otherwise amazing career resumes, and they didn't even come close to that goal. That hurts.

As a whole, Duke didn't play well in the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils were bounced from the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in seven seasons, which doesn't sound very dynasty-like at all. They didn't lose to a superior opponent, didn't lose on a last-second basket, didn't lose on a controversial call, didn't lose to a once-in-a-lifetime shooting night by the opponent. Some of those factors may have made it hurt less last night, but they'll likely make it hurt even more in the long run.

At the same time, the suggestion (particularly popular right now among UNC and NCSU fans) that the 2005-06 Blue Devils are alone in their misery, or isolated in the depth of their disappointment, can survive only on message boards and other places where people are loose with the facts and selective with their memories.

Pick any of the superlatives. Duke was a No. 1 seed? The ACC has had 25 No. 1 seeds since the NCAA Tournament began seeding the field in 1979, and only six of those teams (1982 UNC, 1992 Duke, 1993 UNC, 2001 Duke, 2002 Maryland, 2005 UNC) captured the national championship. Obviously, this NCAA title stuff ain't easy.

Here's another of my favorites: "How in the world could the 'world's greatest coach' (insert sarcasm here), with two first-team All-Americans, NOT win the national championship?"

Again, it's not that easy. Since the creation of the ACC in 1953, 25 conference teams have had two players earn first-team All-America honors from one or more of the media outlets recognized by the league office. Only six of those star-studded teams won the national championship: 1974 N.C. State (Tommy Burleson, David Thompson), 1982 UNC (Sam Perkins, James Worthy), 1992 Duke (Bobby Hurley, Christian Laettner), 2001 Duke (Shane Battier, Jason Williams), 2002 Maryland (Lonny Baxter, Juan Dixon) and 2005 UNC (Raymond Felton, Sean May).

Among those 19 teams with dynamic duos that failed to win the NCAA title were 1973 NCSU (Tommy Burleson, David Thompson -- no bid because of NCAA probation), 1974 Maryland (Len Elmore, Tom McMillen -- in those days, only ACC champ received NCAA bid), 1981 Virginia (Jeff Lamp, Ralph Sampson -- made Final Four), 1983 UNC (Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins -- Elite Eight), 1984 UNC (Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins -- Sweet 16), 1995 UNC (Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace -- Final Four), 1998 UNC (Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison -- Final Four), 1999 Duke (Elton Brand, Trajan Langdon -- Runner-up), 2000 Duke (Shane Battier, Chris Carrawell -- Sweet 16), 2002 Duke (Mike Dunleavy, Jason Williams -- Sweet 16) and 2006 Duke (J.J. Redick, Shelden Williams -- Sweet 16).

Yes, Blue Devil Nation is a place of misery today, and the pain likely will linger for some time. But if Duke is looking for company, the pages of ACC history are overflowing with appropriate candidates.