An unbelievable matchup between two of the real special schools in America, Duke and Stanford, took place Thursday night in Oakland, Calif.

	Stanford forward Casey Jacobsen buried Duke with a buzzer-beater in the Pete Newell Challenge.

Duke was dominating at the five-minute mark, playing brilliant basketball and showing its versatility and perimeter expertise. Jason Williams made play after play, demonstrating why he's the premier guard in the nation. Shane Battier displayed his talents as well, showing why he's one of the favorites for National Player of the Year.

But no one told Casey Jacobsen and the Stanford Cardinal that the game was over. There was no quit in the Cardinal as Jacobsen made one big deuce after another to keep Stanford in the hunt.

At the end, with an 11-1 run, Jacobsen closed it out with a 10-foot fall-away off the glass, stunning the Duke fans.

Yes, a big, big win for the Stanford Cardinal. Remember, Stanford and Duke have only played twice in their history and the Cardinal has come up the winner both times. Last year in the Coaches vs. Cancer they won a scintillating game by one point. They came back a year later to do the same.

Something tells me we will see these two clubs hooking up again in the postseason.

One great thing about college basketball, unlike football, is a loss early in the season in a big matchup doesn't deny a team chance to play for the national championship. Matchups like Stanford vs. Duke help coaches find out some things about their players' strengths and weaknesses. But it doesn't cause a coach the nightmarish feeling that it does to a football coach who loses a big regular-season game.

The winner: The Pete Newell Challenge promoters. I watched on the tube as Stanford alum Tiger Woods did his celebrating. He danced and screamed with joy, cheering his school on.

It was a big night for Cardinal fans, but rest assured the Dukies will be back.