Duke basketball gets confident NCAA prediction from Skip Bayless
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Duke basketball got a confident NCAA Tournament take from sports pundit Skip Bayless. The Blue Devils head into The Big Dance as one of the favorites, as head coach Jon Scheyer has his best team in Durham so far. But there has been drama circling this group recently over the health status of superstar forward Cooper Flagg. Fortunately, Duke’s best player is ready to go for the team’s first-round game against Mount St. Mary’s on Friday.
Bayless, who’s no stranger to controversial takes, didn’t seem to be seeking too much attention with his NCAA Tournament prediction.
“Duke will beat Auburn in the National Championship game…My logic is simply this, Cooper Flagg is going to be the better NBA player than Carmelo Anthony ever was. So, in the end, Cooper goes to Melo and plants his flag in San Antonio. I got Duke 74, Auburn 72 on two late free throws made by the best player in college basketball by far, Cooper Flagg.”
Duke basketball’s quest for its sixth championship starts tomorrow
Bayless comments were referring to the incredible title run Carmelo Anthony led third-seeded Syracuse to in 2003. Anthony was a freshman superstar at the time who went on to become an NBA legend, and Cooper Flagg looks to be on that path as of now. But it’s a long road to a sixth national title for Duke basketball. The Blue Devils headline an East Region with formidable potential foes like Alabama, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Oregon.
Jon Scheyer’s team heads in the tournament with a record of 31-3 and is riding an eleven-game winning streak. During that spell, the Blue Devils clinched the ACC regular season title and won the conference tournament, mostly without Flagg. This squad showed a lot of grit with its feature player down. And this grit will be needed over these two weeks.
But here’s a reason why many consider Duke basketball the favorite. This roster has a unique mixture of both youth and experience that typically serves teams well in March. In addition, the Blue Devils are elite on both ends and shoot efficiently from beyond the arc to counteract any slow starts they get off to. There are still some concerns about the lack of competition this group has faced throughout the season.
This squad is clearly capable of competing against the best of college basketball but rarely has faced tournament-caliber opponents in back-to-back games because of the ACC’s down year. Still, even with that in mind, Skip Bayless is not making a bold take. Very few people would be surprised to see the Blue Devils cutting down the nets in April.
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