We're almost two weeks into the New Year, and if there's one thing that we've already learned in 2009, it's that there's no time for teams to get comfortable.

Just ask Al Skinner's kids. 

Or even Roy Williams' players believe it or not.

You see, less than a week after shocking the college basketball world with an upset on former No. 1 North Carolina's home court, Boston College strutted back to Chestnut Hill, feeding off a wave of national headlines that had the Eagles pinned as this season's biggest surprise following the win. 

But in three days, they had already lost that swagger.

Three days later, and the Eagles are now about as confident as Bernie Madoff's clients. 

That's just the story with college basketball these days.

Because when it comes down to it, no team - no matter what the record is or what history happens to say - is unbeatable. 

On any given night, on any hardwood in America, upsets are taking place left and right between conferences big and small.

Sorry Hoosier fans, but the days of rattling off 32 straight (i.e. 1976) aren't on their way back any time soon - in Bloomington or anywhere else. 

In fact, maybe now more than ever before, the "P" word (as in the parity that exists year after year in this sport) has reached an all-time high, where every conference game seems to be a dogfight and road games are about as predictable as the stock market stands tomorrow or the next day.

After all, the parity's everywhere. 

It couldn't have been on display any better than last Wednesday, as BC returned home from Chapel Hill to take on a 7-5 Harvard team in its second season under former Michigan coach Tommy Amaker.

And with the media sold on the Eagles and their stock rising thanks to last week's national ranking, Skinner's players didn't expect to have too many problems against their Ivy League counterpart, not with a 10-game winning streak and all. 

All they received in return, though, was a stunning 12-point loss from the Crimson.

The result this past Saturday at Conte Forum was very much the same, with ACC rival Miami paying a visit to the Eagles and coming away with a 77-71 victory behind a balanced scoring attack that featured five double-digit scorers. 

From one very big win on the road to two very bad losses at home in the span of a week - that's how quickly a team's complexion can change in this day's game.

"I told them it's a short trip from the main house to the big house to the out house," Skinner said after the loss to Harvard last week. 

But things didn't change enough over the weekend for the Eagles to avoid losing its second straight game, let alone another at home.

"I don't think we had them exactly where we wanted them, but we had a chance," Skinner after losing to the Hurricanes. 

The No. 17 team in the country, though, isn't supposed to have just "a chance" at home against an unranked opponent.

It's supposed to win.  

Whether it's by one point or 30, it's the win column at the end of the day that distinguishes the contenders from the pretenders down the stretch.

It's what North Carolina has surprisingly failed to update in its first two ACC matchups this season, falling once again Tuesday night at Wake Forest to start conference play with two losses for the first time since the 1996-1997 campaign.  

And for the record, any time this UNC team loses, it's a big deal.

Because in the end, the harsh reality for the Tar Heels this season is this: national title or bust. 

Those expectations are a lot to handle even for a team as loaded as UNC was coming into the season.

But for any team, there are always unforeseeable issues to overcome. 

In UNC's case, it started with Marcus Ginyard's foot injury and continued with Tyler Hansbrough's stress reaction, only soon to be followed by Tyler Zeller's season-ending wrist fracture in the second game of the season.

Now, it's a 0-2 hole in the ACC that Roy Williams' players will have to dig their way out of, with Wake Forest having yet to lose and the Tar Heels having already played their lone date with the Demon Deacons - though it's quite possible that these two teams will meet again in the ACC Tournament less than two months from now. 

That's when the stakes are raised a little bit more, when the reputations of coaches, players and programs are on the line, when it all starts to mean a little bit more with automatic bids to the NCAA tournament being handed out.

And in this crazy season filled with twists and turns week after week, having a spot in the Big Dance, especially a guaranteed one, is all you can really hope for.

To check out my latest power rankings, click here.