Where Duke basketball’s NCAA Tournament resume stands as March Madness arrives
March Madness has arrived and No. 21 Duke has already hoisted one trophy, winning its 22nd ACC Tournament championship with a 59-49 victory over No. 11 Virginia in Greensboro on Saturday night.
Next comes Selection Sunday, and the Blue Devils (26-8) will learn their seeding and destination for the NCAA Tournament, which begins Tuesday with the First Four.
On an eight-game winning streak with a league tournament title in tow, Duke could have played its way up to a No. 4 seed, but we won't know that for certain until the bracket is unveiled Sunday evening.
Here's a look at the Blue Devils' resume.
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Duke's signature wins
The Blue Devils' most recent win over Virginia in the ACC Tournament championship was their biggest of the season. Duke is playing the best it has all year, and winning the trophy game is payback for a controversial finish in its last matchup with the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, Virginia, when a foul that would have sent the Blue Devils' Kyle Filipowski to the line with 1.2 seconds remaining and the score tied at 58 was overturned.
The Cavs went on to win 69-62 in overtime, and Duke hasn't lost since.
Saturday's victory boosts Duke's Quad 1 record to 5-6, with victories over No. 15 Xavier, Iowa, UNC, No. 13 Miami and Virginia. The Blue Devils are 7-2 in Quad 2 games, and a spotless 14-0 over Quad 3 and 4 opponents.
A season sweep over UNC doesn't hold much significance with the Tar Heels projected to miss the NCAA Tournament, but those wins were big for Duke's mentality after last season when UNC beat Duke in Coach K's last game at Cameron and then defeated the Devils again in the Final Four.
And the steam with which Duke powered through the ACC Tournament shows a team peaking just as survive-and-advance basketball arrives.
Duke's worst losses
There are a few. Dropping Quad 1 games against No. 3 Purdue and No. 4 Kansas isn't terribly costly. But Duke also lost its ACC opener at Wake Forest, one of only two Quad 2 losses. The other came at Virginia Tech.
Both of those were in-conference road games and they were close in the fourth quarter. Duke's 84-60 loss at NC State was not. That game qualified as a Quad 1, and the Wolfpack is projected to make the NCAA Tournament, but, still, a 24-point thumping is hard to swallow.
Miami beat the Blue Devils 81-59 in Coral Gables, Florida. Again, a Quad 1 conference road game, but the 22-point deficit stings.
Where NCAA Tournament projections have Duke
ESPN's resident Bracketologist Joe Lunardi has Duke projected as a No. 5 seed playing its first- and second-round games in Greensboro.
Lunardi posts Duke in the Midwest Region with No. 1 overall seed Kansas. The Devils' tournament championship win could bump them out of the lowest 5 seed spot and maybe even up to a No. 4.
CBS Sports' Jerry Palm has Duke playing in the South Region as a No. 5 seed with No. 1 Alabama. He, too, projects the Devils' opening in Greensboro.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Duke NCAA Tournament 2023: Where its March Madness resume stands
