The ACC's experience in the NCAA Tournament a year ago was a mixed bag.

On one hand, seven teams from the conference earned NCAA bids, an all-time record. Even as an 11-team league in 2005 and as a 12-team league in 2006, the ACC had received only five and four NCAA bids, so the seven invitations were considered a significant accomplishment.

On the other hand, the tournament itself — the No. 1 reason for the ACC's bragging rights in basketball over the previous 25 seasons, a period that included a whopping eight national champions from the league — was an unmitigated disaster a year ago. Duke and Georgia Tech lost in the first round. Boston College, Maryland, Virginia and Virginia Tech lost in the second round. North Carolina, a No. 1 seed, lost in the Elite Eight.

The ACC's failure to put a single team in the Final Four in 2006 or 2007 marked the first time that had happened in back-to-back seasons since 1979-80.

This year, Duke and UNC give the ACC a chance to have two No. 1 seeds for the third time since 1998. The last two times that happened — in 2002 (Maryland, Duke) and 2005 (UNC, Duke) — the ACC went on to capture the national championship, with the Terrapins winning it all in 2002 and the Tar Heels doing it in 2005.

On the front end, though, the ACC is in danger of having another low number of invitations on Selection Sunday. According to most projections for the 2008 NCAA Tournament, only four conference members — Duke, UNC, Maryland and Clemson — are on track to earn NCAA bids.

Here's the breakdown, including the teams' latest Rating Percentage Index (RPI) numbers. The RPI is a measure of a team's strength of schedule and how it does against that schedule. It does not consider things such as margin of victory, only whether or not a team won and where the game was played. The RPI is used by the NCAA as one factor in tournament selections and the seeding process.

1. Duke (22-1, 10-0 ACC, 2 RPI) — NCAA lock.
2. North Carolina (23-2, 8-2 ACC, 3 RPI) — NCAA lock.
3. Maryland (16-9, 6-4 ACC, 56 RPI) — looking good so far.
4. Clemson (17-6, 5-4 ACC, 24 RPI) — looking good so far.
5. N.C. State (15-8, 4-5 ACC, 48 RPI) — very, very close (considered among "last four teams out" in most projections).
6. Miami (16-7, 3-6 ACC, 40 RPI) — on the bubble; with strong RPI, an 8-8 ACC record likely would be enough.
7. Virginia Tech (14-10, 5-5 ACC, 82 RPI) — remaining road schedule (UNC, Maryland, Clemson) a huge hurdle.
8. Wake Forest (14-8, 4-5 ACC, 92 RPI) — modest strength of schedule will require more high-value victories.
9-12. Everyone else probably will need at least a 9-7 ACC record to receive serious at-large consideration.

ACC In The NCAA Tournament (1985-2007)
         1985 — 5 (plus BC and VT)
         1986 — 6 (plus VT)
         1987 — 6
         1988 — 5
         1989 — 6
         1990 — 5
         1991 — 6
         1992 — 5
         1993 — 6
         1994 — 5 (plus BC)
         1995 — 4
         1996 — 6 (plus BC and VT)
         1997 — 6 (plus BC)
         1998 — 5 (plus Miami)
         1999 — 3 (plus Miami)
         2000 — 3 (plus Miami)
         2001 — 6 (plus BC)
         2002 — 4 (plus BC and Miami)
         2003 — 4
         2004 — 6 (plus BC)
         2005 — 5 (plus BC)
         2006 — 4
         2007 — 7
NOTE: The BC, Miami and Virginia Tech references are from before those teams joined the ACC.