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Championship Saturday thread...

Jacey Zembal

Diamond Wolf
Staff
Jun 15, 2007
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I was thinking about perceptions when I heard Jay Bilas of ESPN and a former Duke player say the Blue Devils should still be the No. 1 seed after losing to Notre Dame on Friday in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

A case could just as easily be made that Duke could slide behind ND on the two line if people take away the glamour factor from Duke, and mist importantly the Fighting Irish top UNC tonight.

Notre Dame won two out of three vs. Duke. A win over UNC makes them the official ACC champion, though as I have said before, I am a big believer in the unofficial regular season champion, which also wasn't Duke, but Virginia.

ND with a win over UNC will have two wins against the Tar Heels, and neither were in South Bend, Ind. Duke gets a much bigger bump in national perception on its two wins over UNC than ND due to ESPN and the rivalry.

ND swept Miami, who beat Duke in their lone meeting, and won at NC State, where the Wolfpack whipped the Blue Devils. Notre Dame suffered losses at Pitt (suffered the Duke hangover), vs. Providence, vs. Virginia and vs. Syracuse. No chances for the ND Revenge Tour.

The Duke win at Wisconsin was special, but also strictly set up for TV ratings by ESPN. Duke would never have scheduled that game on its own. ND got Michigan State and won its game given to them, and also beat Purdue on a neutral court.
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