NCAA Basketball: Gonzaga exposed, DePaul unbeaten among key takeaways

The anticipation surrounding week three of the NCAA Basketball season is multi-faceted. On one hand, fans cannot wait for it to begin for it ushers in ‘feast week’ that has the possibility of numerous high-profiled matchups at the Battle for Atlantis, ESPN Events Invitational, and the Wooden Legacy. On the other hand, fans look forward to week three concluding, as it will be the last week that conference games will not be featured on a daily basis, aside from March that is.

While the Final Four takes place in April – and not March – week 3 could have very well given us a preview of a National Championship game. This exact situation was stolen from fans last season when Baylor and Gonzaga had to cancel their game due to Covid protocols and were never able to reschedule. Friday night on week three made up for that loss and more as Duke defeated Gonzaga 84-81.

In front of over 20,000 fans, the Blue Devils and Bulldogs were tied six times and changed leads nine times. The difference-maker was Duke’s freshman Paolo Banchero, not just for his twenty-one points scored, but for his ability to play Chet Holmgren in the paint and on the perimeter. By forming a frontcourt combination with Mark Williams, Duke has one of the few duos that can defend the Bulldogs as well as score on them.

The biggest takeaway of week 3 is that Duke put themselves on top of the NCAA hill and have become the team that everybody should be wondering if they can be beaten. Duke may not have any top-five matchups remaining on their schedule and the ACC may not be as impressive as seasons past, but it is always difficult to make it out of conference play undefeated. Duke has a chance to be a No.1 seed come Selection Sunday, they just may not have the No.1 ranking.