In four weeks, the field will be set for the NCAA men's basketball tournament. How many ACC teams will be included is a puzzler.

For the past 13 seasons, the ACC has had three to six teams in the NCAA field each year. There were six entrants last year, when Maryland went just 7-9 in league play but earned an automatic bid as the ACC Tournament champion.

With the ACC having expanded to 11 teams, how many bids can the league expect this year? Nine ACC teams have winning overall records. But heavyweights North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest, all of whom are ranked in the top seven in the nation in the RPI, are the only safe bets to make the NCAA field.

Miami coach Frank Haith figures the ACC will get five or six bids. Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg expects the league to get six or seven.

The ACC has not lived up to the preseason hype about its overall quality and depth. The Big East is considered the league with the best shot to reap seven NCAA bids on March13. But the ACC is ranked No.1 in the RPI's conference ratings, and Maryland's Gary Williams hopes the NCAA tournament selection committee will take that into consideration.

"Some of these leagues that say they should get more bids than ours, they're wrong because we have played against each other [in ACC play], and anytime you're going to do that, somebody's going to lose," Williams said Monday. "That doesn't mean the team's bad, it just means you're playing against a very good basketball team."

ACC teams would be wise to shoot for an 8-8 league record. Since the 1991-92 season, when the ACC went to a 16-game schedule, only three of 59 teams with an ACC mark of .500 or better have been denied an at-large bid - 8-8 UVa in 1992, 8-8 Georgia Tech in 1995 and 9-7 UVa in 2000.

The fate of 7-9 teams is much gloomier. Since 1992, only three of 10 at-large hopefuls with a 7-9 record reaped such a berth. The last 7-9 team to get an at-large bid was Clemson in 1998, when Florida State also got a bid despite going 6-10.

Complicating matters this year is the revised RPI formula. The NCAA tweaked the RPI for this season, giving greater emphasis to road wins and a bigger penalty for home defeats. The change helps good teams from second-tier conferences because they usually have to play big-league foes on the road. There are seven teams from mid-major conferences in the top 30 of the RPI, so if any lose in their league tournaments, they could snatch an at-large bid.

Greenberg considers Maryland (15-7, 6-5 ACC), coming off its second win over Duke, a lock for the NCAA field. Maryland is No.24 in the RPI, and no team ranked 33rd or better has ever been denied an at-large bid. Three of Maryland's five remaining regular-season games are on the road, however, and the Terrapins are 1-4 in ACC road games.

"Our power rating is 24th right now. If we could keep it there, we'd certainly be in pretty good shape," Williams said.

Georgia Tech (14-8, 5-6) is No.41 in the RPI and Miami (15-7, 6-5) is No.49.

"I would hope that if we got two more wins that we'd have a ... great chance of getting in," Haith said.

Virginia and Virginia Tech face longer odds.

The 13-9 Cavaliers are still in the picture at No.45 in the RPI, and their RPI strength-of-schedule ranking is No.13. But they are only 4-7 in the ACC. They must visit North Carolina on Wednesday and Wake on Feb.27. Their other games are against Maryland on Saturday, N.C. State on March2 and at Florida State on March6.

The Hokies (12-10, 5-6) take a three-game losing streak into Thursday's game against Duke. They have the worst RPI (No.137) and the worst strength of schedule (No.147) in the league. No team ranked worse than 74th in the RPI has ever gotten an at-large berth.

Tech's RPI is hurt by a loss to VMI, which is No.328 out of 330 Division I teams in the RPI, and a lack of quality nonconference wins. Six wins have come against teams ranked No.257 or worse, including No.294 James Madison, No.298 William and Mary, No.308 Loyola (Md.) and No.327 Maryland-Eastern Shore.

Greenberg, however, considers the Hokies among the league's NCAA hopefuls. In addition to Duke, Tech's remaining games are against Miami, at N.C. State, at Clemson, and Maryland.

"If we win three out of five or four out of five and win a game in the conference tournament, that affects your RPI," Greenberg said.

State (14-10, 4-7) is also a long shot. The Wolfpack is only No.99 in the RPI.FOR INTERNET

Getting selected

Number of NCAA tournament bids the ACC has reaped since the 1991-92 season, the year the ACC went to a 16-game league schedule:

1992: Five

1993: Six

1994: Five

1995: Four

1996: Six

1997: Six

1998: Five

1999: Three

2000: Three

2001: Six

2002: Four

2003: Four

2004: Six

Seeking an invite

A look at the NCAA Tournament chances of the ACC teams with winning overall records:

SAFE BETS

• Wake Forest: 21-3, 9-2 ACC; No.3 in RPI; No.11 in strength of schedule; remaining games are at Miami, at Duke, Longwood, UVa, Georgia Tech, at State.

• North Carolina: 20-3, 8-2; No,7 in RPI; No.33 in strength of schedule; remaining games are UVa, Clemson, at State, at Maryland, FSU, Duke.

• Duke: 18-3, 8-3; No.6 in RPI; No.7 in strength of schedule; remaining games are at Virginia Tech, Wake, at Georgia Tech, at St. John's, at Miami, at UNC.

HOPEFULS

• Maryland: 15-7, 6-5; No.24 in RPI; No.6 in strength of schedule; remaining games are at State, at UVa, Clemson, UNC, at Virginia Tech.

• Miami: 15-7, 6-5; No.49 in RPI; No.34 in strength of schedule; remaining games are Wake, at Virginia Tech, at FSU, Georgia Tech, at Duke.

• Georgia Tech: 14-8, 5-6; No.41 in RPI; No.25 in strength of schedule; remaining games are at FSU, Duke, at Miami, at Wake, Clemson.

LONG SHOTS

• Virginia: 13-9, 4-7; No.45 in RPI; No.13 in strength of schedule; remaining games are at UNC, Maryland, at Wake, State, at FSU.

• N.C. State: 14-10, 4-7; No.99 in RPI; No.123 in strength of schedule; remaining games are Maryland, UNC, Virginia Tech, at UVa, Wake.

• Virginia Tech: 12-10, 5-6; No.137 in RPI; No.141 in strength of schedule; remaining games are Duke, Miami, at State, at Clemson, Maryland.Record: 21-3,

9-2 ACC

RPI: No.3

Strength of schedule: No.11