It used to be so clear -- Duke was the best team in the ACC, and Duke guard Jason Williams was the best player. You could say that with authority, with confidence. You could write it that way, too. Heck, it's possible that we here at ESPN.com might have written just that very thing.

Now, it's not so clear. After Maryland simply dominated the Blue Devils 87-73 Sunday, the Terps are a game ahead of Duke in the ACC standings. The only teams left on the Terps' schedule with a chance at beating them the rest of the way, Wake Forest and Virginia, must come to Cole Field House, where Duke was pounded into 18-turnover, 36-percent-shooting oblivion.

	If nothing else, Juan Dixon has proven to be Maryland's biggest winner in four remarkable seasons.

So Duke apparently isn't the best team in the ACC.

And maybe Jason Williams isn't the best player, either.

Maryland senior Juan Dixon is putting the finishing touches on one of the more remarkable careers in college basketball with a season worthy of consideration for ACC player of the year. If the Terps finish strong for their first outright ACC regular-season title since 1980, he will deserve such consideration as the best player on the best team. Even if they don't, his numbers say he's a candidate.

Dixon is listed in practically every individual category the ACC tracks: scoring (second at 19.2 points per game), rebounding (19th, 4.9), shooting percentage (12th, 45.0), 3-point percentage (fifth, 37.8), free-throw percentage (tie-first, 90.7), assists (12th, 2.8), steals (first, 3.1) and 3-pointers made (seventh, 2.5). About the only thing he doesn't do is block shots, but he's only 6-foot-3 and besides, he is so adept at stealing the ball, his man doesn't get many chances to shoot.

"Of all the kids who don't play for Duke, he's my favorite player," says Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "I admire him immensely."

Krzyzewski probably is referring to all sorts of things. Dixon has overcome as tragic a background as any player, anywhere -- the deaths of both parents, who were drug abusers, to AIDS. Dixon also, through manic hard work, has wrung almost every ounce of production out of his physical abilities. And Dixon gets better as the games get bigger. His scoring average rises nearly two points, to 20.7 per game, from non-conference games to ACC play.

"There are some guys who can score a lot of points, but when it comes to the big games, they may not want to take the shot," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "Juan is the kind of player who wants the ball in the big games. He has no fear of anyone he plays."

Not even of Jason Williams -- the preseason favorite not only for ACC player of the year, but for national honors as well. Williams has done nothing to lose his stronghold, leading the ACC in scoring at 21.4 points per game and also placing among league leaders in 3-pointers (first, 3.0 per game), steals (sixth, 2.1) and assists (sixth, 5.3). But Dixon has done enough to undermine Williams' once-solid footing as king of the ACC hill.

Not that Dixon ever set out to do such a thing.

"I don't worry about individual honors or attention or things like that," Dixon says. "I don't think I'm overlooked just because (Williams) gets a lot of attention. He's a great player; he deserves everything he gets."

But maybe Dixon deserves the ACC player of the year more. In the rematch of Duke's 99-78 victory Jan. 17 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, when Williams outscored Dixon 34-10, Dixon and Williams reached the same 17-point total. How they got there was another story. Williams needed 22 shots (he hit six), including 12 three-pointers (he hit two). Dixon needed just 14 shots (he hit eight), and was 1-for-2 on three-pointers.

Still, you could argue Williams over Dixon because of Williams' superior numbers in two key categories, scoring and assists, and also because of the burden he carries as Duke's lead guard.

But you could argue Dixon over Williams, too. Dixon's numbers this season already have been documented, and his career numbers are even more impressive. When he scores his eighth point Wednesday against Clemson, Dixon will become the first player in NCAA history with 2,000 points, 300 steals and 200 three-pointers. And the odds are overwhelming that Dixon will get at least eight points against Clemson; he is the ACC's current leader with 42 straight games in double figures.

With Maryland's next victory -- Wednesday against Clemson? -- Dixon will become the first Terp to win 100 games. He has been available in the last second of every one of them, having never fouled out in 130 career games.

"Juan Dixon," says none other than Jason Williams, "is a great player."

Maybe, even, as good as Jason Williams? Perhaps, but don't be surprised if Dixon wins ACC Player of the Year while Williams does better nationally. There is precedent as recently as last season, when North Carolina's Joseph Forte tied Duke's Shane Battier as ACC Player of the Year -- but Battier was the consensus national player of the year. In fact, Battier won every major national honor but the one awarded by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. And that one didn't go to Forte.

It went to a guy named Jason Williams.

Games of the Week

Rutgers at Pittsburgh Thursday The Scarlet Knights have been making a better-late-than-never push for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. A win against the Panthers would go a long way. Dayton at Saint Joseph's Saturday The Hawks need to beat this RPI-friendly foe to continue their push for a second NCAA shoe-in for the Atlantic 10, joining Xavier. St. John's at Duke Sunday This series has produced some great games -- Bootsy Thornton, anyone? -- and additionally, the Red Storm are in the NCAA Tournament, period, if they beat Duke. UConn at Boston College Monday The Eagles are awfully close to earning an NCAA bid. A win here could do it, while the Huskies are playing for seeding in both the league and NCAA tourneys.

West best of talented A-10
Aside from the hardly trivial fact that he is the overwhelmingly best player on the overwhelmingly best team in the Atlantic 10 this season, David West also is having the league's best individual season -- in a season that has bubbled over with individual excellence.

St. Bonaventure's J.R. Bremer is fourth nationally in scoring at 25.4 points per game. Three spots behind him is Temple's Lynn Greer at 22.4 points, to go with his league-leading 87-percent foul shooting and 4.5 assists (seventh). Saint Joseph's Jameer Nelson averages 13.7 points and a league-best 6.3 assists. La Salle's Rasual Butler is nearly a 20-10 guy at 19.9 points and 9.2 boards. And George Washington's Chris Monroe averages 21.2 points.

And then there is West, Xavier's 6-9 junior center. Others score better than his 18.5-point average, but no one in the league shoots more accurately (55.3 percent), rebounds more ferociously (10.4) or blocks shots more often (2.8). West also is among league leaders in foul shooting (74.7 percent, 10th) and, remarkably for a big man, steals (1.4 per game, 11th).

West's proficiency as a shot-blocker is the biggest individual reason why Xavier is enjoying its stingiest defense in four decades. The last time Xavier's foes shot worse than their current 39.5 percent accuracy was in 1961-62.

"He's just a tremendous player. There's not a lot he can't do," says Dayton coach Oliver Purnell. "If there's anything he's still working on, it's the outside shot -- which he's come eons with, and next year he'll be even better at it. He can handle and pass, and he obviously can score inside. I think he's one of the best rebounders I've ever seen. To top all that off, he's got a tremendous motor. He plays extremely hard and is a warrior. That's a heck of a combination."

Last week West was named one of 20 finalists for the Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year Award, and that was before he was brilliant in Xavier's 84-77 victory Saturday against Saint Joseph's. West had 18 points, six rebounds and six blocked shots -- in the second half.

"He's a winner," Musketeers coach Thad Matta says. "He did a great job of stepping up and making plays, both offensively and defensively."

Big East MVP Debate Continues
Best player in the Big East? That's easy. It's Georgetown center Michael Sweetney, who is third in the league in scoring (19.9 points) and rebounding (9.9) and leads the league in shooting (58.2 percent).

It's Sweetney, unless you prefer value over stats. After all, Sweetney's awesome individual effort has only helped the Hoyas to a 15-9 overall record, a 6-6 league mark and a spot on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.

For value, go for Pittsburgh's Brandin Knight, who scores a more modest 15.6 points but is second in the league in assists (6.8) and, most importantly, has led the Panthers to a shocking 22-4 record, 10-3 in the league. So it's Knight.

Unless you prefer versatility, a guy who contributes heavily for 94 feet. Then the pick would be NCAA-bound Miami's John Salmons, who averages 14.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.6 assists. Or perhaps Boston College's Ryan Sidney (14.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists).

But that doesn't seem fair to Boston College's Troy Bell, who leads the league at 22.7 points per game, or Connecticut's Caron Butler (19 points, 7.1 rebounds), who has done for the Huskies almost what Knight has done for the Panthers. And what of St. John's Marcus Hatten (19.6 points, 4.6 assists, 3.3 steals), who -- near as we can tell -- is the only reason the Red Storm are above .500, much less in contention for an NCAA Tournament berth?

And still no mention yet of Ryan Humphrey, who has posted Sweetney-like numbers (18.7 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 50.5-percent shooting) for NCAA-bound Notre Dame. Or Syracuse's Preston Shumpert (20.7 points per game).

Too many candidates, but the pick here is ... sorry, ran out of time. Check back later, huh?

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