Michigan, Davidson go Down

[gw67]

Future Duke opponents, Michigan and Davidson both lost last night. Michigan was thumped by Butler 79-65 and Davidson showed that it was not a top 25 team by losing to Western Michigan 83-76. The only team on the remaining OOC schedule that should be difficult is Pittsburgh. I don't see Michigan, Wisconsin or Davidson being capable of beating Duke, particularly if the game is played at CIS.

gw67

[MChambers]

Future Duke opponents, Michigan and Davidson both lost last night. Michigan was thumped by Butler 79-65 and Davidson showed that it was not a top 25 team by losing to Western Michigan 83-76. The only team on the remaining OOC schedule that should be difficult is Pittsburgh. I don't see Michigan, Wisconsin or Davidson being capable of beating Duke, particularly if the game is played at CIS.

gw67

The stats say the Badgers are good, plus they've got a very good coach. Now I haven't seen them play, but others have described them in postings here that make them sound like they could beat the Spurs! I think it will be a tough game.

[jimsumner]

I trust we all know that Duke doesn't play Davidson in CIS. At least not this year.

Wisconsin can beat Duke if they can keep the total points around 115, 120. If it gets much higher than that, I don't think they have the firepower. But Wisconsin is too well-coached to just dimiss out of hand.

[gw67]

I stand as charged. For some reason, I thought Michigan was the Big Ten opponent this year and completely forgot about Wisconsin. I agree that they are well coached, have some size and enough capable players to give the Devils a tussle. They generally play at a slow pace and, if they are hitting their shots, they should stay close although I expect the Devils to win at CIS. Davidson is another story although it is an away game (neutral site). I recognize that the team play and experience of mid-majors often wins out but the talent disparity between the two teams is too great, IMO. There are 5-6 players on Duke who are equal to or better than the best Davidson player. Further, there are 3-4 players on the Duke bench who would likely start for Davidson. I expect the Devils to win big. As I previously posted, Pittsburgh is the only OOC game that Duke may lose, IMO.

gw67