Duke Blue Devils: 27-8, 11-7 in the ACC
Head coach: Mike Krzyzewski (37th season)
Players to watch: Luke Kennard (20.1 PPG, 44.3 3PT%); Jayson Tatum (16.9 PPG, 7.3 RPG); Grayson Allen (14.1 PPG)
Season recap: The Blue Devils entered the 2016-17 season with a host of high expectations. Duke boasted four five-star recruits, junior Grayson Allen was a favorite for National Player of the Year and the squad was the consensus No. 1 team in the nation. Given the preseason hype, questions remain about whether the Blue Devils under-performed this season or if those expectations were unrealistic.
Injuries plagued Duke throughout the season, forcing the likes of Allen, Jayson Tatum, Harry Giles, Marques Bolden and Amile Jefferson to see limited action during various stretches of the season. Many thought the Blue Devils would boast a deep frontcourt, but Giles, Bolden and Chase Jeter hardly made an impact in ACC play.
Instead, Duke relied on its perimeter players, with first-team All-ACC guard Luke Kennard, Allen and Tatum carrying the offense. Inconsistency up front hurt the Blue Devils, who bookended a seven-game winning streak featuring three ranked wins against North Carolina, Notre Dame and Virginia by losing three of four in January to finish the season.
Although Duke went just 3-6 in league road games, a strong ACC tournament run leading to the 20th conference tournament title in program history has the team playing as well as it has all year heading into the Big Dance.
How they make a run: Allen looks healthy again despite battling a lingering ankle injury and gets hot from the perimeter, giving the Blue Devils another potent scorer for teams to worry about. With Duke spreading the wealth offensively and getting enough stops at the end of tight games, the Blue Devils have a chance to contend for a sixth national title.
How they falter: With a short rotation, Krzyzewski's team has issues as a high seed once again, falling to a balanced opponent and getting knocked out in the first weekend for the third time in the last six years.
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