Bracketology 2020: Duke, Butler, Auburn among this week’s losers
Duke
People usually make a big deal whenever Duke loses, so when the Blue Devils lose two games in one week, the general anti-Duke sentiment grows to a fever pitch. “Overrated!,” Twitter users scream into the ether.
And maybe they aren’t wrong.
The first game was a classic Duke loss. Traveling in the ACC is no easy task for anybody, but it seems that there is always one road trip that gives Coach K an especially nasty headache. This time, it was against Clemson. The Tigers haven’t looked great this season, but they did enough when it counted to put away the Dukies.
Back in Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke had a chance to get back into the general public’s good graces in a major tilt with Louisville. But it was the Cardinals who prevailed after jumping out to a 19-6 lead and holding onto the advantage for most of the game. The loss will not only flip these two schools in the ACC pecking order but may also allow Florida State to surpass Duke there, as well.
In the span of seven days, the Blue Devils went from a clear #1 seed to struggling to stay on the top two lines. Duke’s competition is fairly light over the next few weeks; that is, until a February 10 matchup with the Seminoles. That game could have massive implications for both the ACC and NCAA Tournament seeding.
Virginia Tech
Clang!
That was the sound that will haunt Landers Nolley and Virginia Tech fans for a while after Nolley’s potential game-winner rimmed out against Syracuse. It was just the third loss in the ACC for the Hokies, who dropped to 12-5 on the season in the wake of the game against the Orange.
Earlier in the week, VT grabbed a fine (if unimpressive) win over last-place Wake Forest. But the one they really needed was the game against Syracuse. The Hokies held a slight advantage over Syracuse, in terms of their respective at-large hopes, but that playing field has leveled with the Orange’s win in Blacksburg.
There are about eight teams in the ACC that will be talked about for the NCAA Tournament, and at this point, Virginia Tech is still likely on the right side of those discussions. But they have two potential pitfalls next week that would look bad on their resume, first hosting North Carolina before traveling to Chestnut Hill to take on Boston College.
Miami (FL)
While the Hokies are still very much in the at-large conversation, Jim Larranaga’s team is quickly playing itself out of those talks. The Canes fell to 2-5 in the ACC last week, having lost to both NC State and Florida State on the week.
Miami looked flat against the Wolfpack in Raleigh, falling by 17 points on the road. But it seemed for a time that they had regathered their strength at home against Florida State. The Hurricanes led by nine points with just over five minutes to play, but a 24-turnover performance eventually caught up with them. The Seminoles walked out of Coral Gables with an 83-79 overtime win.
The result likely casts Miami’s slim NCAA Tournament hopes into oblivion. While there isn’t an egregiously bad loss on the resume—Connecticut and Florida are the worst ones—their best wins on the year came against Illinois and Temple. That’s just not good enough, especially when the Canes likely won’t have the talent to compete for a spot in the top half of the ACC.