Title game guarantees

1) We will not see J.D. Collins

It was Collins, a Big Ten regular, who worked the Duke win over FSU on March 3 in one of the most inconsistent (to both teams) and poorly officiated games of the season. He never made it to Atlanta (validating the reason I didn't like him working the Duke-FSU game in the first place).

Karl Hess, Roger Ayers and Les Jones are expected to work the Duke-FSU final today. No complaints here.

Traditionally, the crew that works the final doesn't work on Saturday and that held suit in the semifinals, to the detriment of the overall quality of the officiating — although not the outcome — in Game 2. What possible reason did Gary Maxwell have for incessantly jawing with Maryland's Greivis Vasquez?

2) We will see Brian Zoubek

Duke's 7-footer has played only 6 minutes in the ACC Tournament. That number will double today against Florida State's giant lineup. The Zoub played 19 minutes in Duke's win over FSU in Durham.

It will be an interesting move and counter move by the coaches. At one point in the first half of the game in Durham, Coach K gave up trying to match FSU's size and put Kyle Singler at the 5 with four guards. He'll probably do the same thing today for a stretch, just to see what Leonard Hamilton does.

Hamilton can either counter by going small with subs Jordan DeMercy and Deividas Dulkys at the same time, or by sticking with his bigs — Solomon Alabi, Uche Echefu and Chris Singleton.

Of all the players affected by the environment, Singleton made some bad choices, particularly in the second half, in Durham. His late 3 against UNC was critical on Saturday.