Duke has some gotchas in their bracket, early on in the disguise of USC or Indiana. Should Duke survive that game, then they may have to get past Pittsburgh, Cal-Berkley or Alabama. After the competition in the West bracket, Duke (in my opinion) will face the toughest tournament games and is therefore (on paper) a strong contender for an early round upset. However, if Duke plays up to its abilities, they go to the final dance. Any lapses by Duke against a good team could prove very disastrous for them. That's how I see it.
If they make it to the Final Four, it won't be easy for them to win it all, unless the other #1 seeds are all gone by that time. Of the #2 seeds, only Oklahoma looks (on paper) strong enough to knock Duke out of the title. But if the #1 seeds survive, any of them could win. On paper, Duke and Kansas look to be the finalists, but Maryland and Cincinnati are very capable as well. Any of them could win. And there is always the possibility of some team getting hot down the stretch, maybe some Cinderella team seeded 3rd, 4th or 5th.
I haven't finished looking at all of the pairings yet, and all of the possibilities. But it does appear that the West bracket is loaded with good teams, and therefore tougher than any of the other brackets.
KJC |
