Duke basketball: Coach K says Blue Devils are in NCAA Tournament

Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski said the Blue Devils are already in the NCAA Tournament. 

Just two days ago, the Duke basketball team was a .500 program playing on Tuesday at the ACC Tournament for the first time ever.

Fast-forward just over 48 hours and the Blue Devils (13-11, 9-9 ACC) are preparing to load up the bus and make the trip back to Greensboro for the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament against the No. 2 seed Florida State Seminoles (15-5, 11-4 ACC).

Duke is on the outside looking in of almost all NCAA Tournament bracket projections, but many bracketologists think the Blue Devils could be on the right side of the bubble with a victory on Thursday night.

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Some experts believe that Duke needs to win the ACC Tournament in order to avoid missing its first Big Dance since 1994-95, but head coach Mike Krzyzewski thinks otherwise:

“So right now we’re in the tournament. We have to keep winning in order to advance to next week, but when you’re in your conference tournament, you are in the NCAA Tournament. You’re just maybe not one of those 68 teams right now. You have to look at it that way,” Krzyzewski said.

Duke basketball continuing to play for its NCAA Tournament lives

Mike Krzyzewski’s comments are certainly one way to keep a positive outlook as his team plays for its postseason life, but that’s what makes college basketball the best.

Krzyzewski says that the NCAA Tournament is “the most fair tournament,” primarily because every team has a chance to win a National Championship in March, regardless of how the regular season fared.

The 2021 NCAA Tournament could be the first missed tournament for Duke with Mike Krzyzewski coaching a full season since 1983.

With two postseason victories under their belt, the Blue Devils will play for their NCAA Tournament hopes against the Florida State Seminoles in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament on Thursday night in the Greensboro Coliseum at 6:30pm EST (ESPN).