Bracketology 2021: Duke, Kansas, and Florida State among big winners
By Joey Loose
Duke
They were left for dead even a week ago, but here come the Duke Blue Devils just when we wanted to forget about them. Mike Krzyzewski has built a team that contends for national championships on a regular basis, so this season is certainly an aberration. However, there’s still time apparently for the Blue Devils to turn it around and sneak into another NCAA Tournament.
As the team bid farewell to Jalen Johnson, it’s been Matthew Hurt who’s been the savior in recent weeks. He led the way with 22 points in both of the Blue Devils’ wins this week. The first was a road win at Wake Forest back on Wednesday, a non-dramatic 24-point outcome. Then, he helped the Blue Devils to by far their biggest win of the season, toppling #7 Virginia in a game that came down to the wire.
Duke is now 10-8, 8-6 in ACC play, and will likely see their NET ranking reenter the top 50 with the big Virginia win. There’s no doubt that Duke has struggled this season, losing games to Pittsburgh, Miami, and at home to Notre Dame. But their recent play has been much improved and if this team can knock off the Cavaliers, then perhaps they do have a postseason run in them.
Looking ahead, four games remain on their regular-season schedule and none of them can be overlooked. They’ll host Syracuse and Louisville, two teams fighting for bids right alongside them. Then they’ll travel to Georgia Tech and North Carolina, with neither of those games easy by any means. These are must-win situations for the Blue Devils, and if they enter the ACC Tournament on a seven-game winning streak, it’s going to be hard to keep them out of the Big Dance.