What Duke basketball fans should be rooting for on final day of season

The Duke basketball team, and the rest of the ACC, will close out the regular season this weekend and with the conference tournament on the horizon, we take a look at what the Blue Devils should be rooting for.

It’s amazing how fast the college basketball season goes. It feels like yesterday we were first introduced to this team at Madison Square Garden in a thrilling comeback victory over the Kansas Jayhawks.

There is just one weekend left in the ACC regular season and, surprisingly, two games will be played on Friday, although they don’t hold much weight in terms of the seeding for the tournament.

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The Clemson Tigers host the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who are ineligible for the postseason, including the ACC Tournament, and the North Carolina State Wolfpack welcome the Wake Forest Demon Deacons into Raleigh.

On Saturday, the game of the day is the Blue Devils hosting the North Carolina Tar Heels, and all Duke fans will be hoping for a victory, but in order to get a better path to another ACC Tournament Championship, Duke fans should also be rooting for specific outcomes from around the country.

Duke has secured a double-bye in the ACC Tournament along with Florida State, Louisville, and Virginia. While locked is as a No. 4 seed, at worst, the Blue Devils have already lost to two of those three teams.

Mike Krzyzewski‘s team lost a home game to the Cardinals while losing on the road to the Cavaliers with the only victory coming at Cameron Indoor Stadium against the Seminoles.

It’s very difficult to beat a team twice in a season, so the Blue Devils might be best avoiding Florida State until a possible ACC Tournament Championship Game.

Louisville and Virginia play each other on Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville, while Florida State hosts the Boston College Eagles in what should be an easy Senior Day victory.

The Cardinals defeated Virginia earlier in the season while the regular season finale will determine how things will shake out in the ACC Tournament.

There’s no point in getting anyone’s hopes up because Florida State will not lose to Boston College and will become the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

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Things truly get interesting when Louisville and Florida State meet. If Louisville wins, the Cardinals would be the No. 2 seed and pending a Duke win over North Carolina, the Blue Devils would be the No. 3 and the Cavaliers at No. 4.

However, if Virginia is able to defend its home court, the Cavaliers would be the No. 2 seed while Louisville would be No. 3 as Duke would drop down to No. 4.

Avoiding Florida State until a potential Championship Game would be the ideal scenario for Duke, so hoping for a Blue Devil, Seminole, and Cardinal win would be the perfect Saturday for the 5-time National Champions and 19-time ACC Tournament Champions.

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While this is all smart in theory, with how unpredictable college basketball has been this season no one can truly expect certain things to happen in a given week.

Duke will know whether it will be the No. 3 or No. 4 seed when it starts against North Carolina slightly after 6:00pm EST as Louisville and Virginia tips off at 4:00pm EST, and both games will be broadcasted on ESPN.

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