Duke opened the door, but now it's up to someone -- say, Wake Forest -- to walk inside.

Since mid-January, the ACC Tournament has looked like a four-day, nine-team excuse to get a third meeting between Maryland (25-3) and Duke (26-3) on the schedule. Nothing happened to change that, not even the Terps' 87-73 stomping of Duke on Feb. 17.

Someone had to win that game. Someone had to lose. Still, the rematch would be March 10 in the ACC tournament championship game in the Charlotte Coliseum. That seemed like a lock.

Until Virginia.

Virginia rallied last week to beat Duke 87-84, giving the Blue Devils two losses in four games for the first time in three years. Any team that can lose twice in four games, with one of those losses coming to a Cavaliers team that had been 2-7 in the previous four weeks, can lose to someone besides the Terps in the ACC tournament.

Even Duke.

"We've got to stay focused, no doubt about it," says Duke junior Mike Dunleavy. "There won't be any easy games from here on out."

The team most equipped to make an underdog run to the ACC tournament championship game could be Wake Forest (19-11). The Deacons first would have to get past Georgia Tech (15-15), which has won five straight and eight of its last 10. But if they can do that, they have the talent to hang with Duke in a Saturday semifinal. That was obvious to anyone who watched the Deacons' trip Jan. 19 to Cameron Indoor Stadium, an evenly played game for 30 minutes until the cumulative effect of injuries and foul troubles saw the Deacons fade to a 103-80 loss.

Duke obliterated Wake Forest 90-61 in the rematch, but even that could work in the Deacons' favor. Overconfidence, anyone?

Despite its 3-2 record down the stretch, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski likes the mood of his team entering the ACC tournament.

"We're healthy going into the most important part of the season," he says. "The attitude of our team is good. The ACC tournament is really a good thing for this team. Hopefully we can play some games that will help us."

Like the Blue Devils if they face Wake Forest in the semifinals, Maryland also could have some heavy lifting to do to uphold its end of the Duke-Maryland bargain. The Terps are on the same side of the draw as Virginia (17-10), which should have beaten Maryland at Charlottesville in a 91-87 loss Jan. 31. If there's a rematch -- which assumes Virginia can defeat N.C. State (20-9) for the first time this season in the quarterfinals -- most of the pressure will be on Maryland.

By then, the Cavaliers will have 18 wins to go with their No. 45 RPI and ought to be in the NCAA Tournament. The Terps will be playing to solidify their status as a No. 1 seed, and also simply playing as the team everyone expects to win.

"I still feel we can beat anybody we play," says Virginia coach Pete Gillen, who also knows the bad news. "We can lose to anyone we play, too."

Gregg Doyel covers college basketball for The Charlotte Observer and is a regular contributor for ESPN.com. He can be reached at gdoyel@charlotteobserver.com.