The NCAA men’s basketball championship entered 2019 with one team dominating all basketball discussions. Duke Blue Devils are riding high in the ACC and the outstanding performances of their star forward Zion Williamson should propel them deep into the NCAA Tournament in the spring.
Last year, Duke were knocked out at the Elite Eight stage by the top seed Kansas, but with Williamson being talked about as a potential all-time great, they have the power and the potential to go further this time. In fact, according to the implied probabilities at the bigbetbookmaker.com site, the Blue Devils are the favourites to be crowned the kings of college basketball this year.
But Duke aren’t a one-man team. The Duke roster is arguably the deepest in college basketball, with Williamson’s power play supplemented by the nation’s top-rated college prospect pre-season, the dominant RJ Barrett and the third-rated player, the free-scoring Cameron Reddish. With many college basketball experts already ranking them as the top team, Duke could take some stopping.
If they are stopped it isn’t likely to be by Kansas this time. They were the number one seed when they beat Duke last season, but they fell to the eventual Championship winners Villanova in the Final Four. The Jayhawks are leading the way in the Big Twelve again this season, but they dropped two of their first seven games and don’t appear to be quite the threat that they were last time round, thanks largely to an unfortunate turnover habit and a poor record from the free-throw line. They may once again dominate the Big Twelve, but at the moment, they don’t look in Final Four shape.
Instead the biggest challenge to Duke appears be from Tennessee. The Volunteers have been in superb form since losing to Kansas at the end of November, and they pulled off an eye-catching neutral-court victory over a tough Gonzaga team at the beginning of December. If they can cope with the pressure that comes with a higher profile, and continue to turn impressive performances into victories, they will give any team a challenge in the spring.
But Tennessee aren’t the only team in form going into 2019. The Virginia Cavaliers have suffered a notable loss to Duke, but otherwise their form has been unimpeachable, with a series of impressive wins, including a 22-point thrashing of Virginia Tech. The NCAA Tournament regulars have not been to the Final Four since 1984, but they look capable of going that far in 2019.
And out of a host of teams trying to enter the conversation, Baylor shouldn’t be written off. Despite losing their top four scorers from last season, and being without Tristan Clark, their second top scorer, Scott Drew has coached Baylor to impressive wins against Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Iowa State, and the team are the showing the kind of resilience and togetherness that can help propel a college to the latter stages of the NCAA Tournament.
