1. Duke (32-2)
Jon Scheyer has only been the head coach for four years at Duke and he’s already starting to carve his own legacy. He took the Blue Devils to the Final Four last season and has an outstanding team this year, with just two close losses and a boatload of great wins. Entering this week, they had clearly established themselves as the team to beat in the ACC Tournament, especially after avenging their lone loss to North Carolina.
Playing short-handed without Caleb Foster or Patrick Ngongba II this week, it was a close call in the quarterfinals but Duke survived 80-79 against Florida State. Isaiah Evans had 32 points while Cameron Boozer added 23 points and 10 rebounds. The work in the semifinals was top notch, with a 73-61 win over Clemson thanks to a strong opening half, including a 24-point, 14-rebound effort out of Boozer. Another ACC Tournament came back to Durham as they survived 74-70 against Virginia thanks to 20 points from Evans.
Even with those two injured starters, Duke claimed the conference tournament title and are riding high into the NCAA Tournament. This is clearly not just a 1-seed but a team that can absolutely win the national championship in a few weeks. Boozer has been a rising star as a freshman and getting those injured players back would put them in a very enviable position.
Do you agree with the updates we’ve made to our rankings and what we think of where this teams stand here as March Madness nears? Which of these teams is going to make a real run in the coming weeks and come away from this season as national champions?