The Duke Blue Devils are unquestionably the hottest team in college basketball right now, especially after Auburn dropped both of its games last week. With a win over archrival North Carolina in Chapel Hill last weekend, Duke secured the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship outright, marking head coach Jon Scheyer’s first ACC title.
Earlier in the week, the conference announced its awards, and it came as no surprise that Duke swept the top honors. Freshman sensation Cooper Flagg earned both ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Player of the Year accolades, highlighting his remarkable talent and versatility. What makes Flagg’s achievements even more impressive is that he’s receiving these honors while technically still supposed to be finishing his senior year at Montverde Academy.
Duke enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed, but recent history shows that being the top seed hasn’t guaranteed success — the ACC tournament hasn’t been won by the No. 1 seed since Virginia claimed the title in 2018. Nevertheless, Eddie Timanus noted, “The No. 1 seed hasn’t won this tournament since Virginia in 2018. Be that as it may, it’s hard to consider Duke as anything but the odds-on favorite.”
With a roster loaded with talent, Duke is widely considered the favorite to not only win the conference tournament but also contend for a national championship. While Louisville and Clemson are both playing well, only one could potentially challenge Duke in the title game on Saturday.
This year’s Blue Devils team is stacked, combining seasoned leadership with emerging young stars who rank among the nation’s best. Duke will aim to break the top-seed curse and take home the tournament trophy this week in Charlotte.