Last year, it was common to hear pundits or college basketball fans say Duke’s bracket was gift-wrapped.
This time, it’s a little harder to find anyone expressing that sentiment.
Sunday, Nolan Smith said he felt the Blue Devils had showed they “should be a No. 1 seed.” And they were rewarded with just that, but given a very difficult draw, with San Diego State, Connecticut and Texas joining Duke in the West regional as the second, third and fourth-seeded teams, respectively. Each member of that trio has the potential to be a matchup nightmare.
The Aztecs, a 32-2 squad, were last seen trouncing the Jimmer Fredette-led BYU Cougars in the Mountain West championship. San Diego State won the game by 18, forcing Fredette into taking poor shots and a 10-for-25 shooting performance. The Aztecs rode that momentum into their highest seed in school history.
Duke could face them in the Elite Eight—which would mean a contest played in Anaheim, Calif., just a short distance from the San Diego State campus. In other words, the Blue Devils could face a false neutral court situation similar to the November contest against Kansas State that was played in Kansas City.
Of course, many Blue Devil fans fear facing a different team than the Aztecs in the regional final—Connecticut.
The Huskies have been nemeses of Duke in the past. In 1999, Connecticut topped a heavily favored Blue Devil squad to win the national title. And in 2004, foul trouble and a dominant Emeka Okafor caused Duke to fall in San Antonio, one game short of the national championship game.
This year’s Huskies are seen by many as a one-man team. That star, though, a legitimate national player of the year candidate named Kemba Walker, has proven himself more than capable of carrying his squad. He hit several big, last-second shots earlier in the season. More importantly, he averaged 26 points per game in the brutal Big East conference tournament, leading the Huskies to five wins in five days. A matchup between Walker and Smith would be a national event.
Just getting to the Elite Eight, though, will not be easy.
Providing Duke doesn’t become the first team in NCAA Tournament history to lose to a 16-seed, it will face either Michigan or Tennessee in Charlotte, N.C. on March 20. Michigan finished .500 in conference play, but does boast playmakers Darius Morris and Tim Hardaway Jr. Tennessee, a squad that fell apart early in the season after its coach Bruce Pearl was suspended, does have wins against Pittsburgh and Villanova on its résumé.
And if Duke manages to get past its second round matchup, it may take on a team that many inked as either a one or two-seed just a few short weeks ago: Texas.
The Longhorns lost the Big 12 championship to Kansas, but were ranked as high as No. 3 this season and beat Texas A&M three times, as well as the Jayhawks and Missouri once. Besting Texas would be a formidable Sweet 16 task.
Luckily for Duke, the team seems as confident as it has been all season.
“It’s good to go into the NCAA Tournament with this type of confidence,” Ryan Kelly said Sunday, “not just as a team, but individuals as well. Guys are playing so well.”
“We’re a better team after this week. We got better this week, a lot better,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski also said Sunday.
With a difficult draw, that confidence will be needed.
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