Duke Basketball: UVA win shows 2019 national title is Blue Devils’ to lose
By Neil Adler
The Duke Basketball team put together a tremendous effort on the road versus Virginia, and the Blue Devils appear like the favorites to win the whole thing.
Duke Basketball, in my humble opinion, is the best crew in the country. Sorry Tennessee, Virginia, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Michigan and everyone else.
Competing in a hostile environment against one of the premier units across college hoops, the No. 2 Blue Devils beat the No. 3 Cavaliers, 81-71, at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday night.
Duke (21-2, 9-1), which isn’t a proficient squad from 3-point range, connected on nearly 62 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc versus UVA (20-2, 8-2). That’s astounding. If the Blue Devils shoot anywhere close to such a stellar clip with regularity, no one – I repeat, no one – is going to conquer them during March Madness.
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There’s a ton of basketball remaining before post-season conference tournaments and the Big Dance commence, however, at this juncture, I believe that Duke is the front-runner to cut down the nets in early April.
The Blue Devils already own a collection of impressive victories on their resume. They’ve swept the Cavaliers, who are presently No. 1 in the NCAA NET ratings. Duke has also defeated Auburn, Florida State, Kentucky and Texas Tech.
What’s more, the Blue Devils’ pair of setbacks is to the Bulldogs on a neutral floor, and to Syracuse in overtime at Cameron Indoor Stadium when they unfortunately had a depleted line-up. Now, in all fairness, Duke still has on its schedule Louisville, North Carolina (twice), the Orange and Virginia Tech. That’s no cake-walk, not in the least.
But if the Blue Devils can succeed against Virginia by 10 points on the Cavaliers’ turf, they really can triumph over anybody. The Division I Men’s Basketball Committee on Saturday afternoon revealed its top-16 seeds, and Duke is the No. 1 overall seed. Well-deserving, if you ask me.
The Blue Devils certainly could stumble on several occasions before the 2019 NCAA Tournament begins. Duke is tied for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings with the Tar Heels, and UNC or another league school could absolutely capture the ACC crown.
A possible dilemma that detractors may allude to is that the Blue Devils rely on four freshmen to carry the load. They’re extremely talented, and extremely young. From my perspective, what Duke did to the Cavaliers on Saturday evening signifies that its freshmen stars are growing up, gelling as a cohesive group, locking in on defense, and playing with poise.
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I’m a fan of the eye test, and, following this dismantling of UVA, I think that the journey to the national title travels through Durham, N.C.