Perhaps tonight's final should be called off. Save us all a lot of time. Save UConn from the agony of a blue (and white) Monday.

Then again ...

``On any given night, anybody can lose,'' Duke point guard William Avery said Sunday.

He almost sounded believable.

Regarding the one blemish on Duke's record, a blemish nearly blotted out by a school-record 32 consecutive victories since, a simple question emerges.

How did it happen?

How did Duke travel to the Great Alaska Shootout, in Langdon's home state no less, and lose 77-75 to Cincinnati, as a last-second Avery basket was determined to have fallen after time expired.

Surely something took place that goes beyond the stat sheet. On paper, Cincy held a 19-point lead in the first half, shot 57 percent from the field and 71 percent from 3-point range, while holding Duke to 46 percent shooting.

Chances are, though, that other factors were involved. Bearcats coach Bob Huggins maintains that his team lived off the program's physical reputation this year, and that it actually was relatively mild-mannered. Nonetheless, the Bearcats came at opponents wearing menacing scowls and prominent tattoos.

The image was undeniable: Thugs 'R Us.

Maybe the prep-schooled Dookies were, well, scared early.

``We were such a different team back in November,'' forward Shane Battier said. ``We had come into the season very highly rated and I think we had started to read our press clippings a little bit. The hunger, which is so evident now, wasn't evident at all in November. Cincinnati really brought that out.

``In Alaska, you could see it in their players' eyes. They wanted the game more than we did. They really took it to us, they weren't scared and all of a sudden we found ourselves in a dogfight. We didn't react very favorably.''

Krzyzewski has consistently avoided in-depth examination of the defeat. ``We lost because they played better than us in the first half,'' he says.

Huggins, though, offered some concrete concepts on how his team won and how other teams might go about doing likewise.

``We made shots,'' Huggins said. ``You have to make shots against them because their guys have the ability to knock down shots.''

Weaknesses? ``Not that I can find,'' Huggins added. ``Oh, they only have nine guys; maybe that's a weakness. Mike couldn't find another McDonald's [high school] All-American to make 10, so he had to settle for nine.

``One thing, they don't have a lot of depth at the guard positions. If someone could get one of those two guys [Langdon or Avery] in foul trouble, that could maybe cause them some problems because they're basically a man-to-man team and they're not going to go into a zone to protect those guys.

``Plus, you have to keep them out of transition and play very well in the half-court game.''

All that, of course, is easier said than done. Good teams have tried and failed. Very good teams have tried and done even worse. Very good teams, such as Temple, which failed in the East Regional final last week.

For those still believing Duke is beatable, that game is best forgotten. Temple had all the qualities Huggins touted as necessary to down the Devils.

``I just hope that whoever Duke plays believes in the Lord,'' Temple coach John Chaney said. ``Or maybe they should get Frank and Jesse James, take them along.

``Duke executes a very strong team concept. You don't have a lot of `I's' out there. Also, you look out there on the court and they'll have five guys playing on the outside and no one inside. Or, other times they'll have four guys outside and one guy inside. I don't know how to tell other teams to prepare for that.''

As this season has wound down, the debate has sped up in the quest to find Duke's place in college basketball's all-time pecking order. The consensus is that this team most assuredly is one of the best, regardless of what happens tonight.

But the best?

``Duke is like Noah's Ark - they have two of everything,'' said Virginia coach Pete Gillen, obviously enamored with the Blue Devils' depth.

``Duke's ridiculous. When I coached at Xavier, we played Kansas the year they won the NCAA title. Duke's better. We played Michigan the year they won. Duke's better. We played Arkansas the year they won it. Duke's better.''

Kansas coach Roy Williams is only slightly less starstruck.

``To me, Duke is the best team I've seen in 25 years of being a college coach,'' William said. ``But I do think that before you can say they're one of the greatest of all-time, that they have to finish the job [and win the title].''

CBS analyst Billy Packer comes off as the ultimate naysayer. Packer lives in the past, to put Duke in its place, in his mind. He considers the 1968 UCLA team, led by center Lew Alcindor (who would become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), as the all-time No. 1. Packer likes the old days in general.

``Do you think for one second that a Bill Russell [of San Francisco] or a Bill Walton [of UCLA] would be shaking, and saying `My God, tomorrow I've got to go up against Elton Brand?' '' Packer asked.

``Not to take anything away from Duke, because in the new era of basketball they're going to be remembered as one of the top teams. But compared to the past, there is no comparison. They wouldn't have been in the same league.''

Strong stuff, but the Blue Devils can take the heat, because they ignore it. As they do the plaudits.

``We just talk about getting better and having fun,'' Krzyzewski said. ``If we talked about [expectations] it would be incredibly taxing. That's why we don't.''

Leaving the rest of us to do so.