Coach K and Duke Can Hurt UNC’s March Madness hopes

The Blue Devils host the Tar Heels in the first Tobacco Road rivalry game of the year and Duke are in pole position to hurt North Carolina’s NCAA Tournament hopes. Al Dannity looks ahead to this clash of the biggest rivals in College Basketball.

The Tar Heels haven’t been right for a few years. They’ve had talented teams in the post-Hansbrough era but they haven’t performed with the consistency needed to threaten in March. The current crop may not even get a chance to go dancing unless things improve dramatically. A whupping in Miami on Saturday didn’t help the Tar Heels and another one tonight could seriously damage them. While the Hurricanes and Blue Devils are locks for the Big Dance, both likely to be either 1 or 2 seeds, appearances matter. Losing to teams of this standard is ok; losing badly twice in a row to them is another matter entirely.

With the only good non-conference win on their docket coming at home to UNLV and with that loss at Texas looking worse by the day, the Tar Heels need quality wins to impress the selection committee. For all the complicated math that goes into the NCAA Tournament, quality wins matter the most. If you beat the #2 team in the nation on its own court and don’t completely wet the bed otherwise then you’ll be dancing.

Which brings us nicely to tonight. Duke is playing for seeding at this stage, having long locked up their ticket with a string of quality wins. Since losing big at Miami, the Blue Devils have gone on a tear through ACC play. Save for Saturday’s nail-biter at Boston College, Duke has looked like a team ready to challenge anyone on the hardwood.

Going into a game against their rivals is nothing new to the Blue Devils in recent years but it’s been a while since they were expected to be so much better than the Tar Heels. That brings its own kind of pressure. Mike Krzyzewski needs to channel the emotions, ensuring confidence turns into determination rather than arrogance. The Blue Devils are flat-out a better team than the Tar Heels. Winning is a good enough motivation in and of itself but Coach K has an opportunity to get his players to truly excel tonight. In front of the Cameron Crazies he can send a message to the rest of the College Basketball elite. In the process he might just doom UNC to the NIT in March.