The ACC was one of the worst Power Five conferences in the country this season, but it has the current best team in the country and potentially one of the best teams ever if they can finish the job. The Duke Blue Devils dominated the ACC in a way they have never done before. The Blue Devils are in the middle of their best season under head coach Jon Scheyer and the automatic bid into the tournament after winning the ACC tournament is just the next step in the season. Duke has lofty goals this year and they are 6 wins away from reaching it.
Duke had the best regular season they have ever had and headed to the tournament with a 31-3 overall record and finished 19-1 in the ACC. The Blue Devils swept both the ACC regular season title and the tournament title and only lost to Clemson in the ACC. Duke swept Louisville, swept North Carolina, and beat Clemson once. In the non-conference, the Blue Devils beat Auburn and Arizona. They are very good and are one of the overwhelming favorites to win the whole thing.
Duke was given a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and given the utter domination that the Blue Devils have displayed this year, that shouldn’t be a surprise. Duke enters the tournament on an 11-game winning streak. If you are a person who believes in the law of averages you would think that would be bad news for the number 1 team in the country, but none the less, they are the favorite to win the title. Here are the reasons why Duke will win a game in the NCAA Tournament.
1 Seed
Everyone knows it has happened before, but it has only twice, and it took a perfect storm for the 16 seeds to beat the 1 seed both times it has happened. The one seeds in this tournament, and especially Duke, are so much better than the rest of the country. It would surprise me if the Blue Devils didn’t win the game by more than 25 points. Duke has been one of the best teams all year long, they are currently the number 1 team in the country, and they have the best player in the country. Sometimes, being a top seed in the NCAA Tournament is a curse more than it is a blessing, but for this Duke team, in this tournament, that is a blessing. They thrive when they get a team’s best because the Blue Devils best is better than just about anyone in the country.
Cooper Flagg
Word on the street and within Duke Basketball circles is Flagg will play and is ready to go after his injured ankle in the ACC tournament. Coach Scheyer is hopefully not going to need him much to beat the 16 seed they are going to be playing, but it is always nice to have the best player in the country on your team in a single elimination tournament. The freshman phenom is arguably the best college player the game has ever seen, there are not very many words to describe how awesome he has been because many of us have not seen it before. Flagg leads Duke in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, blocks. He can score from all over the floor, is deadly at the free throw line, and is a talent we will likely never see again in college. Flagg was a unanimous All-American and will be the first pick of the NBA draft if he chooses to come out. The best player in the country is always nice to have and he has helped them win 31 games so he won’t stop now.
Defense
Duke has always been good and always had the best players. They have been a 1 seed a lot, but one thing they have never had is a defense like this one. The defense is what sets this Duke team apart from all the other great Blue Devils teams. Duke shuts your water off on offense, and they do it using their length, contesting everything, and running teams off the three-point line. Most nights, passing is a chore on this Duke team. The Blue Devils coaching staff isn’t doing anything different they just have a ton of length and some of the best athletes they have ever had in Durham. Duke is currently allowing 61 points per game. The last time that Duke allowed under 65 points per game heading into the tournament, they won the entire thing, so that is something to chew on.
Duke is good, the were included in these articles because they won the autobid. The Blue Devils will clearly beat their first round opponent and will likely win many more games after that. This version of the Blue Devils is National Championship good.