GREENSBORO — There is some disagreement as to whom the ACC’s best team will be this year — three of them are ranked in the top six nationally — but there is universal accord that the league will be the best it’s been in a long, long time.

Three very good reasons why the ACC should be as good as it gets in 2000-01 are seated at tables at Operation Basketball. All three are wearing coats and ties and sheepish expressions. All three are clean-cut, intelligent and funny. All three could be first-team this year. And that’s not first team All-ACC — that’s first-team All-American.

And all three superstars — Duke forward Shane Battier, Maryland forward Terence Morris and UNC center Brendan Haywood are seniors.

What?

Did someone say senior superstars who are still in college? Isn’t that against the law? Haven’t senior stars gone the way of the bald eagle and the buffalo? The answers are yes, no and yes.

But the rumors are true. For the first time in years, the ACC wasn’t hammered by early entries to the NBA last summer. Not one player left early. Coaches can rave about senior leadership this season and not be talking about 65-year-old booster-clubbers.

Think about what that means, all you folks who dump on the ACC because it hasn’t won a national title since the Duke-Duke-UNC back-to-back-to-backs from 1991-93.

Think a Duke team with Elton Brand, Battier and Chris Carrawell on the front line, with Corey Maggette and William Avery in the backcourt, and with Jason Williams, Nate James, Mike Dunleavy and Carlos Boozer coming off the bench would have won the NCAA title last year?

Do camels relieve themselves in the desert?

Heather Locklear could have coached that squad and beaten some NBA clubs. Shoot, even Cliff Ellis might have won a couple of games. (Just kidding, Cliff.)

But Duke didn’t have Brand, Avery and Maggette, all of whom turned in their royal blue for tons of green and checked out of Durham early. Duke was thin in 1999-2000 and when Dunleavy came down with mono, the Devils were doomed.

Several potentially awesome UNC teams suffered similar defections over the years. But since this is supposed to be a Duke story, we won’t relive the gory details of the early departures of all those one-name guys like James, Michael, Vince, Rasheed and Jerry.

But back to Battier, Morris and Haywood, all of whom — and thank goodness, hallelujah and strike up the band— said no thanks to the NBA, even though all three would have been selected higher than the first ACC player drafted last June— Georgia Tech’s 3-point-shooting 7-footer Jason Collier.

Battier, Haywood and Morris could be eating lobster and caviar right now. They could be deciding whether to drive the Rolls or the Lexus. They could be closing the deal on their very own tattoo parlor. Instead, they’re still college kids. They’re eating hamburgers, getting an allowance from their parents and walking to class.

Ain’t it great?

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OK, so why are they back?

Let’s ask Battier, who’s the smartest person in the room — including the coaches.

“I didn’t think I was ready for the pros,” he says. “I’m a 6-8, 220-pound power forward. The NBA is a land of 250-pound behemoths bashing each other in a game that’s thinly disguised as basketball. Physically and mentally another year of college helps, because my game is skill and finesse.”

Then there’s what Battier calls “pursuit of the ring.”

His freshman year, Duke lost a 17-point lead in a regional final to eventual national champ Kentucky. His sophomore year, a Duke team that looked unbeatable was riddled by UConn in the finals. Last year, after a stunning regular season, Duke fell early in the NCAAs to Florida.

So here stands Battier — 98-11 for his career, 46-2 in ACC games, 6-2 against Carolina, three times an ACC regular-season champ and twice an ACC Tournament champ. But the ultimate prize has eluded him. That drives him.

“When my college career is over, I want to be able to look in the mirror and know I did all in my power to win a championship,” he said. “If we fall short this season, I’ll be able to walk away knowing in my heart I did all I could do to. I can live with that.”

Battier also knows that college games are more fun than the pros. There are few rivalries in the NBA anymore, few games that are special. And how many NBA fans care enough to color their hair, wear a basketball on their head or create a wacky sign? But at Duke, Battier has the joy of taking on Carolina, Maryland and the rest at least twice a year in truly crazed environments.

Battier glances up as he hears reporters at Haywood’s table cracking up. “Brendan must have said something about Duke,” he says, smiling.

Brendan has indeed made reference to the Devils. A reporter asked Haywood if he found satisfaction in being in the Final Four in Indianapolis, while the Blue Devils were perched at home.

“I was just glad to be in Indy,” related Haywood. “I didn’t think that much about Duke. But to our fans, everything is Duke this and Duke that. And you know, our fans did come up with a pretty cool T-shirt. It said, ‘The difference between winning and whining is eight miles.’ ”

Ouch. That’s what caused the guffaws.

Battier, of course, has a Tar Heel story to relate.

“I was at the Final Four with the Student Basketball Council,” he said. “I went to find my seat and they’d given me one right in the middle of the Carolina student section. Needless to say, I never sat down. I watched the whole tournament standing under the basket.”

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Battier’s evolution from caterpillar to butterfly has been amazing to watch.

He entered Duke as the No.3 or No. 4 rated freshman in a class that included Brand, Avery and ballyhooed big man Chris Burgess, who will play at Utah this season. Three years later, Battier is the most recognizable college player in America.

His freshman year, he started half the games, averaged 7.6 ppg and made four 3-pointers.

His sophomore year, he progressed to third-team All-ACC and was generally recognized as the nation’s top defender. But his skills were still more along the lines of charge-drawing than taking charge of games.

As a junior, he stepped it up to 17.4 ppg, made 44.4 percent of his 3s and along with Carrawell led an amazingly successful young team. He made All-America teams and deserved it. He was likely the ACC’s best shooter and best defender, a unique combination.

“What really tells you Shane is great is that he never allows a bad practice,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. “He’s like Michael (Jordan) was with the Bulls. He demands things run smoothly at all times— on the bus, in the locker room and in games.

“That’s the best thing about Shane Battier.”

No, it’s the second best thing.

The best thing is that he’s still here.

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Mike London covers college basketball for the Post.