Well, Thursday of Championship Week was a buzzer-beater away from being a perfect storm for Duke fans. First, the Big East was hit by a massive upset bug, as Syracuse, Villanova, and Pittsburgh all went down in their respective first games of the tournament. While none of these upsets should directly affect Duke's seed (I can't see one bad loss overshadowing Syracuse's entire season, especially since they Orangemen will still have (at least) one less loss than the Blue Devils come season's end), it's never a bad thing to see ranked teams go down.
Then, the hated Tar Heels played their best half of the season... and promptly reverted back into the North Carolina team we've all grown to love in the second half. Listening to the Mike Patrick and Len Elmore extol the Tar Heels' effort in the first half was almost comical, especially when juxtaposed with the familiar lack thereof in the second half. With the loss, the Tar Heels finish the year 16-and-16 (gasp!) and are now nervous about receiving their NIT bid.
But the nightcap was the only game that turned out sour for Blue Devils fans. In what was an overwhelmingly ugly game for 35 minutes, the last five minutes of Cincinnati vs. West Virginia almost made up for the earlier lackluster action. Down by seven with five minutes to go, the Bearcats' Lance Stephenson took over the game, and singlehandedly brought Cincinnati back and tied the game. Cincinnati had a chance to win the game with six minutes to go, but seldom-used guard Dion Dixon dribbled the ball out of bounds with three seconds to go. That gave West Virginia its own chance to steal the game, and steal it they did, with Da'Sean Butler sinking a long, bank-shot three (over Stephenson, ironically) to win the game for the Mountaineers.
Now, had the Bearcats completed their miraculous comeback, that likely would have cemented Duke's No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. With the Mountaineer victory, though, the Blue Devils still need to win the ACC Tournament to feel secure with that No. 1 seed (on SportsCenter this morning, Joe Lunardi stated he still thinks Duke will claim the No. 1 seed if both Duke and West Virginia win their conference tournaments). Still, after the lackluster performance last night, West Virginia could have trouble again versus Notre Dame. Regardless, though, the Blue Devils can feel (somewhat) secure that they control their own destiny (according to some... really, what do we know at this point?)
My colleague Andy Moore already previewed Duke's matchup with Virginia, which is now less than an hour away. So here are three other games the Duke Fan should watch today:
Michigan vs. Ohio State (12:00 p.m., ESPN):
There have been rumblings that Ohio State could jump in and steal a No. 1 seed if Duke and West Virginia find themselves victim to upsets, but Michigan could put an end to that talk with its own upset today. The Wolverines have been one of the most disappointing teams this season (can you believe they were ranked in the Top 20 at the start of the year?), but still have a lot of talent in Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims, plus some solid role players in three point shooters Stu Douglass and Zack Novack. Still, Michigan has no one that can match-up with Evan Turner, and as such the Wolverines' only shot is if Douglass and Novack are hitting their three-pointers at an astounding rate.
Miami (FL) vs. Virginia Tech (2:00 p.m., ESPN 2):
Duke will face the winner of this contest, and for once Blue Devil fans may not want to root for the upset. A win over Virginia Tech would look much better on Duke's resume than one over conference cellar-dweller Miami, especially since the Blue Devils' only victory over the Hokies came at home this season. Regardless, Malcolm Delaney and the Hokies should be able to handle the Hurricanes.
Notre Dame vs. West Virginia (9:00 p.m., ESPN):
This game could end up being very similar to West Virginia's close victory last night: an ugly game that goes down to the wire. The difference could be Luke Harangody, who has played well after returning from injury in the Big-East Tournament. After an atrocious offensive effort last night, I'm calling the upset here for the Irish: Notre Dame has more offensive talent than the Bearcats, so they should have a better shot at coming out victorious in a low-scoring game.
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