Emptying the "ACC In The NCAA Tournament" notebook....

The ACC has won three of the last five (60 percent) national championships, with three different teams -- Duke in 2001, Maryland in 2002, and North Carolina in 2005. The league also has won six of the last 15 (40 percent) NCAA titles, and eight of the last 24 (33 percent). The other national champions in that stretch: UNC in 1982, N.C. State in 1983, Duke in 1991, Duke in 1992 and UNC in 1993.

The ACC's all-time NCAA Tournament winning percentage (.675) is significantly better than any other conference. The Big East (.628) is second, the Big Ten (.627) third and the Pac-10 (.606) fourth. Nobody else is over 60 percent.

Since 1980, when the NCAA lifted its limits on the number of participants per conference, the ACC has had just one losing season in NCAA Tournament play (5-6 in 1987) and has a .678 rate of success. Again, nobody else is close.

Since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, the ACC has had 107 teams in the NCAA Tournament, about the same as the Big East (108). Yet the ACC has 215 wins in that span -- 39 more than the Big East. The Big Ten has had 118 participants since 1985 yet has 39 fewer wins. The SEC, with 104 participants, has 66 fewer wins. The Pac-10 has less than half as many NCAA wins as the ACC in the modern era. Since the Big 12 formed in 1996, it trails the ACC 90-68.

In the previous 52 years of league history, 24 of 49 (three on probation) ACC champions advanced to the Final Four. That's a stunning 49 percent success rate. If Duke makes it this year, the numbers will be back at exactly 50 percent (25 of 50).

In nine of the last 15 years (60 percent), a first-place regular-season finisher (including ties) from the ACC made the Final Four. Duke, of course, finished first this season.

From 1985-95, a span of 11 seasons, the ACC put four teams in the Sweet 16 seven times (64 percent), although it hasn't happened since then. Since 1995, the conference has put three teams in the Sweet 16 three times -- in 1998 (UNC, Duke, Maryland), 2004 (Georgia Tech, Duke, Wake Forest) and 2005 (UNC, Duke, N.C. State).

The ACC last went consecutive years without a Final Four team in 1979 and 1980.