Duke Trying to Go Wire to Wire : College basketball: The Blue Devils started the regular season ranked No. 1 and are still there.

November, December, January and February have come and gone, but Duke stays put--No. 1 in the polls and No. 1 on the list of those most likely to succeed in the NCAA basketball tournament.

As if Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski really cared, the Blue Devils are also pursuing a tiny piece of basketball history. If they can win this week’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament--and that’s a mild if--Duke will have begun the regular season ranked first and finished it there.

Of course, the last team to accomplish this was the 1990-91 UNLV Rebels, and look what happened to them: Duke beat them in last season’s NCAA semifinals. Still, considering the many difficulties the Blue Devils encountered this year, the first-to-first honor has its merits.

Consider:

--As UNLV discovered last season, the No. 1 designation seems to bring out the best in opposing teams. Duke learned this when it lost to North Carolina at Chapel Hill and blew a late double-digit lead against Wake Forest at Winston-Salem.

--Figuring he wanted to prepare his team for the pressures of NCAA tournament play, Krzyzewski approved a schedule that included nonconference games against St. John’s, Michigan, UNC Charlotte, Notre Dame, Louisiana State and UCLA. That’s in addition to the usual ACC rotation.

February was particularly demanding, what with games against the Irish, North Carolina, LSU, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, Maryland, Wake Forest and Virginia.

The Blue Devils went 6-2 during that stretch, but because other top teams lost during the same weeks, Duke remained atop the polls.

--Duke went without point guard Bobby Hurley for five games and then lost the versatile Grant Hill for a brief time. But the Blue Devils managed to continue to win, thanks mostly to Christian Laettner, Brian Davis, Thomas Hill and a little luck.

Only one poll remains before the NCAA tournament starts March 19. Barring an upset, Duke probably will remain in the East Regional and play its first game in Greensboro, N.C.

While Duke received 62 of the 64 first-place Associated Press votes (the other two went to Nevada Las Vegas), Arizona could conceivably jump to No. 1 if the Wildcats win Thursday at No. 8 UCLA and Saturday at No. 10 USC--no easy task. Arizona would also need another Duke loss, too.

It could happen. Second-ranked Arizona is playing well and Duke has struggled in recent weeks. Also, Duke was upset during last year’s ACC tournament.