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Official Duke/UNC 2024/25 Thread (Final 4 or Bust for Both)

#251
#251
As bad as it pains me to say this, a full and healthy Duke squad is the odds on favorites to win the title. UNC did give them probably their closest test over the last couple months in Chapel Hill, probably since Clemson beat them in Clemson. By that barometer, UNC did better than Illinois.
 
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#254
#254
Regulator said:
As bad as it pains me to say this, a full and healthy Duke squad is the odds on favorites to win the title. UNC did give them probably their closest test over the last couple months in Chapel Hill, probably since Clemson beat them in Clemson. By that barometer, UNC did better than Illinois.
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I think Auburn and UF are still deeper than a full and healthy Duke. Especially UF. Neither of those teams have Cooper Flagg though.
 
#256
#256
volfanbill said:
I hate UNC and I don’t think it would have changed. They wanted the Carolina and Texas brand names.
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Agreed. Having Cunningham (or any sitting AD) heading the Committee is a bad look, but UNC was getting in regardless. Any group of people who get put on that Committee, whether they have UNC ties or not, wants a blue blood program in that tournament over West Virginia. If they have any wiggle room whatsoever, it is going to benefit the bigger name team.
 
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#257
#257
05_never_again said:
Agreed. Having Cunningham (or any sitting AD) heading the Committee is a bad look, but UNC was getting in regardless. Any group of people who get put on that Committee, whether they have UNC ties or not, wants a blue blood program in that tournament over West Virginia. If they have any wiggle room whatsoever, it is going to benefit the bigger name team.
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Slight discrepancy for clarity: imo, it was about brands over blue bloods. Indiana deserved in over both Carolina and Texas. But Carolina and Texas are national brands and got the rub because of it
 
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#259
#259
volfanbill said:
Slight discrepancy for clarity: imo, it was about brands over blue bloods. Indiana deserved in over both Carolina and Texas. But Carolina and Texas are national brands and got the rub because of it
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Imagine telling someone 20 years ago that Indiana would get snubbed a bid in favor of Texas. Shows how far the brand has fallen over that time.
 
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#260
#260
Regulator said:
Indiana and West Virginia made it harder on themselves by getting bounced in their first conference tourney games.
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While I don’t disagree, the committee has a knack for ignoring later round conference tourney results. So I don’t think early exits should be weightex as heavily as oh, I don’t know, 1-12 q1 records
 
#261
#261
Regulator said:
Indiana and West Virginia made it harder on themselves by getting bounced in their first conference tourney games.
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You are probably correct, even though we are told by the supposed experts that conference tournaments don't matter to the Committee.

I've always been of the opinion that they matter when the Committee wants them to matter. If a blue blood had a mediocre regular season, is somewhere near the bubble, and goes on a run in their conference tournament but short of winning it and getting the auto bid, they'll use that as justification to get them in or bump their seed up. The converse is true of a team that doesn't have that kind of pull.
 
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#264
#264
Aside from five turnovers in the first four minutes, that was basketball perfection. I was most impressed with their competitiveness on defense, switching seamlessly.
 
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