Duke Basketball: 3 takeaways from Blue Devils win over Arkansas in Elite 8

Duke is the Best Team Remaining in the Tournament

Coming into the NCAA Tournament, I didn’t think Duke was going to be capable of making the Final Four, and I certainly didn’t think they would be capable of winning the National Championship due to their performance in the ACC Tournament where they struggled against Syracuse and Miami and wound up losing to Virginia Tech.

However, fast forward two weeks and the Blue Devils are going back to the Final Four, and appear to be the best team remaining in the tournament. Duke has played the highest possible seed in two of their three games beyond the Round of 64, as they played seventh-seeded Michigan State, third-seeded Texas Tech, and then they played fourth-seeded Arkansas who beat top-seeded Gonzaga in the Sweet 16.

That being said, Duke is the most battle-tested team remaining in the tournament. Kansas and Villanova have only played one team who was the highest-seeded team they could’ve played each, and the North Carolina/Saint Peter’s situation is interesting, to say the least.

Nonetheless, Duke has had the most difficult path to the Final Four, and they have passed with flying colors, the games against Michigan State, and Texas Tech were nail-biters for a while, but Duke was able to pull away, and ultimately win both games against two solid teams, and they were able to control the game against Arkansas.

From the beginning of the season, everyone knew this Duke team was talented, and they knew they were capable of being the last team standing on April 4th, but now it’s not a matter of they could be the last team standing, they SHOULD be the last team standing on April 4th, because they’re the best team remaining in the tournament.