NCAA Basketball: Duke Blue Devils and USC Trojans lead Sunday Mailbag

By Bryan Mauro | Dec 6, 2020

Dec 3, 2020; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Washington Huskies forward Nate Roberts (1) grabs a rebound against Utah Utes forward Timmy Allen (1), left and center Lahat Thioune (32) in the first half at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports /

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NCAA Basketball Duke Blue Devils Jordan Goldwire Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports /

Are the Duke Blue Devils the best team in the country? – Matthew Travis @mjtrav627

Brevity is not an option for my answer as I feel I need to explain every answer, I won’t just give this a flat-out no. To be honest, the Blue Devils are not even the best team in the ACC this season and their first two games have shown that to be true. Duke had a hard time putting away a much-improved Coppin State team. Even if Coppin State is improved, they should never be in a game with Duke.

The game that is going to really stand out at least on early-season returns is the Blue Devils’ most recent effort against Michigan State. Duke could not do anything, they were completely shut down by the Spartans before finally losing by double digits in the Champions classic. It’s hard to say where Duke will end up as they have only played two games on the year, but as of right now they don’t look like one of the best teams in the country.

One thing that everyone has learned about the Blue Devils is never count them out, always trust Coach K. They are one of the better coached teams in the country every single year and the Blue Devils also have some of the best freshmen in the country every year.

This year the Blue Devils have a little added experience that they have not had in the past especially in their backcourt. One of those players Jordan Goldwire is a defensive specialist and has seen an uptick in his scoring this year.

Duke is going to be fine and is still a second-weekend team especially with their depth, freshman, and coaching. One thing they are not is one of the best teams in the country. As of right now, it looks to be Gonzaga and Baylor and a large separation between the rest of the teams.

As the season goes on the Blue Devils will likely be one of the top three teams in the ACC and will be expected to perform well in the NCAA tournament just like the same old Blue Devils under Coach K. Duke even when playing better doesn’t have the horses to win a national title though.

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