During a week in which The New York Times did a long news report on declining interest among Duke students in their basketball team, the ACC announced a scheduling policy that will take another deep cut into the sport’s regional and national popularity.

N.C. State no longer will be guaranteed home-and-away basketball matchups with North Carolina in the new 18-game conference schedule announced this morning by the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The ACC announced a new scheduling format this morning for when Syracuse and Pittsburgh join the league. According to the new schedule, beginning in 2012-13, each school will play every other league team at least once each season, but each school  will have only one "primary partner" for guaranteed home-and-away games.

Updated at 12:40 p.m. with scheduling details and a statement by ACC commissioner John Swofford.

Lost in the way N.C. State played Wednesday night in a 56-51 win over Boston College was the fact that the Wolfpack surpassed its win total from last season and equaled its ACC win total.

The Wolfpack improved to 16-7 overall, one more win from last season, and 5-3 in the ACC, it finished 5-11 in the conference in each of the past two seasons.

State coach Mark Gottfried is more concerned with how his team has played than its record.

BLACKSBURG, Va. – While Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg lamented Austin Rivers’ four 3-pointers, it was a different play that Rivers made that caught Mike Krzyzewski’s eye Thursday night.

The Blue Devils’ freshman guard fed Josh Hairston for an alley-oop midway through the second half when Virginia Tech pressed Duke for the first time.

“We broke it at half court,” Krzyzewski said. “Austin had confidence and gave (Josh) a great pass – it’s not like he’s been throwing a lot of lobs to Josh – and Josh finished it. They’re reluctant to press again after that because of that play.”

Three Points from Wednesday's 56-51 win at Boston College:

1) Body language counts

When Richard Howell, Lorenzo Brown and C.J. Leslie slumped their shoulders, dropped their heads and sloughed off to the locker room at halftime, they were greeted with a warning from N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried.

"I told them that is not acceptable and we won't do that — and we have not done that any night this year," Gottfried said. "We were allowing things to bother us. Mentally, we were out of synch."

Updated 11:15 p.m.

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Boston College started the week at No. 229 in the Rating Percentage Index, one spot ahead of Savannah State and one behind Lafayette.

That's not the kind of company N.C. State can afford to keep if it wants to end its season in the four-letter postseason tournament instead of the three-letter one. Scott Wood and C.J. Leslie saved the Wolfpack from an RPI-crushing loss on Wednesday — and string of other four-letter words from a portion of its fan base.

Wood (16 points) and Leslie (13) lifted a cold-shooting and sloppy State (16-7, 5-3 ACC) team to an ugly 56-51 ACC win, in name only, over the Eagles.

DURHAM – Duke football received binding National Letters of Intent from 20 recruits on Wednesday, closing National Signing Day with what coach David Cutcliffe called an “impact class.”

“There’s strength, there’s size, there’s height, there’s quickness,” said Cutcliffe, whose team has finished with back-to-back 3-9 seasons. “There’s no question in my mind that we have recruited some immediate help there. I couldn’t be more excited.”

Scout.com ranked this Duke recruiting class 10th in the ACC and 63rd overall in the nation. The class includes 10 three-star recruits, while featuring five in-state products.

The Devils added one quarterback, one kicker, eight linemen and 10 backs – meaning a specialty position such as running backs, defensive backs or wide receivers. 

Quarterback Tyler Cameron, tight end Anthony Cook and defensive tackle Josh Banks (Cary Middle Creek) headline Wake Forest's list of football signees today.

As usual, Demon Deacons coach Jim Grobe dipped into Florida for recruits, including Cameron, a three-star recruit from Jupiter, Fla.

Cary Panther Creek tight end Dan Beilinson headlines the list of Duke's football signees today. On Duke's official athletics website, however, the position for the 6-foot-5, 240-pound, three-star prospect is listed as "Line."

Check back here over the course of the afternoon for Duke Signing Day updates, as well as for a separate post off Blue Devils coach David Cutcliffe's Signing Day news conference.

Recruit ratings in football can be wildly unpredictable.

Here's a review of five long shots who turned out to be among the best college players in the nation.