This is not as commonplace as you might imagine.

Sure, teams from the Triangle tower over ACC men’s basketball. But rarely all at once, as the media rightly predicts will happen this season.

Between them Duke, North Carolina, and N.C. State own nine of 10 NCAA titles won by conference squads, and more than three-quarters of ACC Tournament championships (42 of 54). North Carolina and Duke are among the top four programs in overall victories in major college history. N.C. State ranks among the top 25.

Yet the Triangle trio rarely dominate the ACC as a group. In fact, the three finished together atop the ACC standings only 10 times, none since 1991, before Florida State joined the league.

This season shapes up as a return to that bygone form. The Tar Heels are the media’s consensus pick to lead the way, with the Blue Devils and Wolfpack battling for second. “Isn’t that exciting?” asked Miami coach Frank Haith.

Haith, who grew up in Burlington, N.C., was not being facetious. In fact, he’s both accustomed to, and in a peculiar way appreciative of, the consistent level of excellence routinely achieved by North Carolina and Duke. “As a member of this league at another school, I’m proud I’m in a league that has those high standards,” he said. “We use that to our advantage in recruiting.”

N.C. State is the unaccustomed presence among the league’s projected regular season powers. “We should be there every year,” said outspoken senior Gavin Grant.

Perhaps. But for all the Wolfpack’s renewed competitiveness under Herb Sendek, including five consecutive NCAA appearances from 2002 through 2006, the Pack finished among the ACC’s top three just twice in his decade at Raleigh.

Last season, Sidney Lowe’s first at the helm, N.C. State finished tied for 10th in the conference and settled for an appearance in the NIT, hardly a dramatic arrival. There is no experienced point guard. What’s more, one ACC head coach confides that, in his opinion, Lowe’s squad played little defense last season despite winning 20 games.

That hasn’t dampened enthusiasm for N.C. State’s prospects in 2008. That’s a testament to a core group of returning veterans, particularly big men Brandon Costner and Ben McCauley, a strong freshman class, an impressive run in the ’07 ACC Tournament, and to Lowe himself.

The amiable coach seems to embody the N.C. State tradition, which receded into the background while its Triangle neighbors took turns commanding the conference.

This season will see plenty of nostalgic talk of the Wolfpack squad that surprisingly won a national championship 25 years ago. As the point guard on that team Lowe is a visible link with those glories, so visible he’s been taken aback by his very public profile even on casual visits to restaurants.

He should not be surprised. Lowe is as attuned as any fan to the rivalries, challenges, and precedents of basketball in North Carolina. “I think I feel the same as I did when I played,” he said. “I think the passion and the understanding of what it’s all about is the same. It’s something that’s in me and will never die.”

Lowe told writers gathered in Greensboro that he wants his players to share his appreciation for the depth and texture of basketball in these parts, and for N.C. State. “If you can’t get excited about that, and understand what it means to wear that red and white…I tell our guys from day one, if you can’t understand that, you’re in the wrong place and you might need to play for someone else. But I think it’s important that they understand that, so we try to educate them on that.”

North Carolina’s Marcus Ginyard, for one, needs no education on Pack pride. He sees the signs in daily life as often as he is reminded of Duke.

“I feel like everybody is talking about State like they just got into the ACC this year or something,” the junior said with some amusement. “They’ve always been around. They’ve always been a good team. It doesn’t seem any different to me.”

Nor is it unfamiliar to expect UNC to lead the way in the ACC. The Tar Heels are so deep they should finish first and compete for the NCAA title despite losing two starters, both NBA draft picks, with no recruits to replace them.

Still, the Heels must demonstrate they can play superior team defense, something they accomplished only sporadically last season. They need sophomore Wayne Ellington (.301 on threes in ACC competition) and others to provide a dependable outside threat to gain breathing room for a formidable frontcourt. And they’ll need to exorcise the demons of their meltdown in the Final Eight against Georgetown, a topic of conversation even more common than queries about the Gerald Henderson elbow that broke the nose of Tyler Hansbrough, the overwhelming favorite for 2008 ACC player of the year.

Duke likewise has a sour taste to erase – an 11-loss season, most since 1996, after an 18-3 start, and uncharacteristic first round elimination in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments.

The Blue Devils return most everyone from last year, and boast the league’s best freshman class in forwards Kyle Singler and Taylor King and guard Nolan Smith. “They’re a little bit more ahead as a class than most of the freshmen we’ve had,” said coach Mike Krzyzewski. “They’re just more prepared.”

The Devils have much to prove. Their point guard play was erratic last year, and they struggled mightily to score. Krzyzewski promises an uptempo style at both ends of the court, the better to utilize as many as 11 players, but so do half the coaches in the league. Few will deliver on that vow.

On paper, the rest of the ACC is a bit of a jumble. One can mount a persuasive argument the conference is weaker than in recent seasons, with most of its teams missing key ingredients. That is hardly encouraging coming on the heels of last season’s NCAA meltdown, with no Final Four squad and a single team (UNC) surviving to the Sweet 16.

“This is my eighth year now, believe it or not,” said Georgia Tech’s Paul Hewitt, the ACC’s third-most senior coach. “It seems like every year I come in here, the question is always: ‘Is the league as good as the year before? Is the league as good? Is it up, is it down?’”

Hewitt insisted the conference is as strong as ever.

This could be one of those rare seasons in which Clemson challenges the leaders, assuming it improves on .578 foul shooting. Maryland returns a sterling sophomore backcourt and plenty of pieces. Georgia Tech has a good freshman point guard and a raft of returnees, including perhaps the league's most dangerous shooters in Lewis Clinch and Anthony Morrow. Virginia has plenty of parts and a superior playmaker and scorer in Sean Singletary.

Haith’s Miami squad, picked last by the media, may be the big surprise. N.C. State’s Grant predicted that, in light of coach Skip Prosser’s death in July, Wake Forest will exceed modest expectations, much as the Wolfpack women did last year when confronted by coach Kay Yow’s suffering due to cancer.

Maryland coach Gary Williams was characteristically exasperated with the high regard the media accorded teams from North Carolina. He pointed out the Terrapins won 25 games and twice defeated N.C. State last season, yet are picked behind the Wolfpack.

“I’ve tried to ignore this time of the year coaching at Maryland,” he said. “The great thing about athletics is, by the end of the year, all these preseason things don’t mean anything.”