Despite being down 14 at halftime, Louisville battled back and upset Notre Dame in overtime just minutes ago. The second huge Big East Tournament upset in two days begs the question-has the chaos in New York City given Duke a No. 1 seed?
It certainly can't hurt, especially since Joe Lunardi's most recent edition of Bracketology had Duke demoted to a No. 2 seed, with Notre Dame taking the Blue Devils' place as the final No. 1. What's worse is that if Lunardi's prognostication had held up, Duke would've been in No. 1 overall seed Ohio State's region, which might've spelled doom for the Blue Devils.
Now, though, neither of the Big East's contenders for No. 1 seeds-Notre Dame along with Pittsburgh-will win the Big East Tournament. I mentioned yesterday the value the selection committee apparently places on tournament performances. That would seem to indicate that an ACC Tournament title should give Duke some bonus points in the committee's eyes over both Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. The Blue Devils still have a lot of work to do though, with a matchup Saturday night against a Virginia Tech team that shocked Duke in Blacksburg, and a potential showdown with rival North Carolina in the conference championship game Sunday.
Duke's work is anything but completed though. Remember that, despite the temporal differences, Notre Dame actually just lost in the tournament semi-finals, while the Blue Devils' victory over Maryland was in the quarterfinals. Given the "state of the bracketologists" heading into today, it would seem Duke would at least have to win tomorrow night to claim the No. 1 seed, and if the consistent praise of ESPN commentators for the Fighting Irish throughout the day is any indication, an ACC Tournament title is still probably necessary.
The Blue Devils certainly still have a lot to play for.
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