Despite being the No. 1 team in the nation and fresh off their defense of the ACC Championship, the Duke Blue Devils are entering the NCAA Tournament with a lot of experts placing serious doubt on their run through the bracket.
Most recently, ESPN's Seth Greenberg shared that he isn't even sure the Blue Devils can get past St. John's or Kansas, who they would only face in the Sweet 16.
"That is the toughest bracket in all of college basketball," Greenberg said. "I'm not sure that Duke gets past either St. John's or Kansas."
Excuse me?
When Greenberg first said that, I thought I needed to clean my ears out or get my head checked, or maybe a combination of both. What a ludicrous assessment of Duke's promise in this year's Big Dance.
Doubt on Duke should only push Blue Devils further
The idea of the Blue Devils not being able to beat a No. 5-seed St. John's or a No. 4-seed Kansas (who Duke already beat in the regular season) is laughable at best.
Duke is made for March and March is made for Duke, it's just that simple, and it has been for decades.
Other than Duke head coach Jon Scheyer's first year in the role (when they were eliminated in the Second Round), he has led the Blue Devils to the Elite Eight or further. This year's squad is one of the three teams favored to win it all, which would certainly require advancing past the Sweet 16.
Yes, I understand that starting point guard Caleb Foster and center Patrick Ngongba II are still missing from the lineup. However, they were just fine in the ACC Tournament as they went head-to-head with some of the top teams in the country.
"That is the toughest bracket in all of college basketball. I'm not sure that Duke gets past either St. John's or Kansas."
— First Take (@FirstTake) March 19, 2026
—@SethOnHoops on Duke being the first 1 seed to fall 👀 pic.twitter.com/q9yy4oReBj
Freshman point guard Cayden Boozer was even better than his blue-chip status led people to expect. Senior center Maliq Brown brought the necessary postseason experience. Isaiah Evans was playing the best ball of his career. Even freshman Nikolas Khamenia was peaking at just the right time.
The disrespect is laughable, and it's nearly time for the Blue Devils to show the world and Greenberg that they were completely wrong to ever doubt Duke.