SEIBERT: Is it college basketball season yet? Well, almost

There hasn’t been too much to celebrate this college football season in the ACC.

North Carolina — once ranked in the AP Top 25 poll — is 1-3 in the conference.

N.C. State has returning ACC offensive player of the year Russell Wilson, but it has only three wins this season, two against FCS opponents.

Duke (yes, the Blue Devils) sits atop of the trio with a 4-3 record.

The three teams combined have earned 11 wins, but there is a glimpse of hope for ACC fans.

The college basketball season is near. The anticipation almost is over.

Four ACC teams are ranked in the preseason AP Top 25. Duke and North Carolina are in the top 10.

The Tar Heels will not have all-Americans Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson.

Danny Green and Wayne Ellington started their NBA careers a couple months ago.

Duke has the biggest starting five coach Mike Krzyzewski has had in his 30 years coaching in Durham. The shortest players on the roster are listed at 6-foot-1.

Both teams have a chance for a conference championship, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a national championship.

When is the last time that could be said about one of those two teams in football?

ACC football simply serves as a buffer between the summer months and the start of basketball season.

College basketball’s regular season begins when North Carolina plays host to Florida International on Nov. 9. The interest in ACC football soon will dwindle.

In December, how many fans still will talk about how the Tar Heels struggled after losing three wide receivers to the NFL?

The beginning of December will mark the 11th annual ACC/Big Ten challenge. Michigan State plays North Carolina in a rematch of last year’s national championship game.

Think anyone will care about the upcoming EagleBank Bowl?

Football’s ACC championship game will be played Dec. 5. Know what else happens Dec. 5? North Carolina travels to play Kentucky. Duke plays host to St. John’s.

Unless Duke wins out and several teams lose more than one game, fans in North Carolina won’t have a team in the championship game.

Basketball drives the two schools’ fan bases. There aren’t as many Cameron Crazies on Saturdays in Durham. Nobody camps out in front of Kenan Memorial Stadium to receive tickets to a football game.

Basketball still reigns supreme in North Carolina.

Until the level of success on the football field matches the prestige of its counterpart on the hardwood, it might never change.

Sports writer Trevor Seibert can be reached at 407-9952 or tseibert@coxnc.com