Duke basketball: Mike Krzyzewski looks out for Tar Heels
By Matt Giles
Duke basketball may need nine straight wins to cut down April nets in 2021.
Let’s say the ACC has its way with its extreme suggestion to incorporate modern-day parenting — everyone gets a trophy — into March Madness. If so, then one could argue that Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski should consider resting his stars for large chunks of January and February, seeing that tired legs have seemingly ended several Blue Devil postseasons in the past.
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Sure, seeding could still be important. But given the nature of the conference’s reported upcoming recommendation to the NCAA, it seems plausible that random seeding will be in order — you know, just to be fair to all the little kiddos.
What’s the recommendation? According to a Wednesday morning tweet from Stadium insider Jeff Goodman, the ACC is set to propose that all 346 eligible Division I basketball programs, or whichever ones opt to go through with a 2020-21 campaign, make the field for the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
No, seriously, that is indeed what the tweet claims. What’s the reasoning for such a proposal? Well, we’re still more than six months out from April Fools’ Day, so there’s no evidence yet that this is a joke.
This must be the work of Duke basketball’s rival, right?
Now, one would think North Carolina is leading this fight in order to ensure it receives a Big Dance invite — you know, in light of the Tar Heels’ 14-19 joke of a 2019-20 season, in which they finished dead last in the ACC and miles outside the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Another sensible explanation is the ACC sees this as a way to effectively eliminate the need for conference tournaments, which are basically responsible for dwindling the field to 68 in any other year. Also, the potential revenue from such a large-scale event is off the charts.
In reality, though, the expanded tournament is apparently meant to simply be a “celebration” of college basketball, per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.
Plus, believe it or not, Goodman noted that Coach K is actually the one who spearheaded the idea. Maybe the 41st-year Duke coach figures it benefits his program and the game as a whole to guarantee that his rival, UNC’s Roy Williams, gets back to at least earning a postseason participation trophy. What a saint.
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