More love from Bristol

[wisteria]

Another headline Duke story by Dinich. Very nice.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?id=3218060

[4decadedukie]

Very nice (her termination notice just left the printer at ESPN headquarters).

[Indoor66]

Another headline Duke story by Dinich. Very nice.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?id=3218060

And Heather writes coherent sentences. What a joy.

[wilson]

Along with CBS Sportsline's Gary Parrish, ESPN's Joe Lunardi now has us projected as a #1 seed:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology

I still haven't come all the way around to believing that this team will be a 1, but I'm starting to believe that it's at least distinctly possible. A 2, in my mind, is very reasonable.
Lunardi has only 4 ACC teams in his projected field: Us, kuralonna, Climpsun, and Miami. BC and FSU both listed among the last teams to miss the field.

[Classof06]

The way we're playing right now, I don't think Lunardi had much of a choice. It is worth noting that Lunardi has said since November that he would not be surprised if Duke ended up as a 1 seed.

[dukerev]

Because a bracketology in late January is exactly what'll happen (ha!) a few thoughts about Lunardi's latest work:

The light (awful) blue crowd down 15-501/751 will be frothing at the mouth that Joe has them going out west and Duke in Raleigh/Charlotte.

I'm so glad we're matched up with Tennessee as the #2 seed in our region. I'd rather face them than UCLA. (Again, as if this is really what'll happen, AND as if you can project 4 games into the tournament). Actually, even the 8/9 teams we're paired with don't scare me the way they usually do.

Frankly the best part of us being a projected #1 seed is that now I can look at what Lunardi has to say about us without being an espn insider.

[Duvall]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology

We want Wagner.

[mbd1mbd1]

The light (awful) blue crowd down 15-501/751 will be frothing at the mouth that Joe has them going out west and Duke in Raleigh/Charlotte.

Technically UNC is in the west regional, but because of the pod system, they are slated (along with Duke) to play the first two round in Raleigh. You think that would be a tough ticket?

[dukerev]

Yeah, I see where they'd be in the Raleigh pod. But they'll be upset about going out west for the regionals where we'd be in Charlotte. Again, this is all exceedingly speculative, but I'd bet that there are Heels who are unhappy about Joe Lunardi today precisely because of that.

As an aside, assuming that Duke and UNC both do play in the Raleigh pod, that is not necessarily a good thing for Duke. I remember years past where there were a lot of anti-Duke folks in the crowd and really got going during tourney games. Of course, this year's squad seems to have that "it" factor I keep hearing Bilas and others talk about that makes them respond positively in hostile environments.

[Tom B.]

Technically UNC is in the west regional, but because of the pod system, they are slated (along with Duke) to play the first two round in Raleigh. You think that would be a tough ticket?

Something similar happened a few years ago when both UNC and Duke were in different regions, but both played the first two rounds in Charlotte. For Duke, it might as well have been in the Dean Dome. I'd prefer DC (as long as Maryland isn't playing there as well), or possibly even Tampa or Birmingham, to sharing the RBC Center with the Heels and 15-16,000 of their fans.

[hurleyfor3]

Something similar happened a few years ago when both UNC and Duke were in different regions, but both played the first two rounds in Charlotte. For Duke, it might as well have been in the Dean Dome. I'd prefer DC (as long as Maryland isn't playing there as well), or possibly even Tampa or Birmingham, to sharing the RBC Center with the Heels and 15-16,000 of their fans.

I'd prefer 2004, when unc got stuck out in some other time zone as a six-seed and we had Raleigh all to ourselves

[TampaDuke]

I'd prefer DC (as long as Maryland isn't playing there as well), or possibly even Tampa or Birmingham, to sharing the RBC Center with the Heels and 15-16,000 of their fans.

Tampa would be nice!

[billybreen]

Something similar happened a few years ago when both UNC and Duke were in different regions, but both played the first two rounds in Charlotte. For Duke, it might as well have been in the Dean Dome.

It was that quiet?

[alteran]

It was that quiet?

Oh no -- UNC fans get quite loud for us. Sometimes, they even dial the amps to 11.

[billybreen]

Oh no -- UNC fans get quite loud for us. Sometimes, they even dial the amps to 11.

As long as we don't have to smell the glove . . .

[heath_harshman4]

Lunardi has us as a #1...

in the east bracket starting in Raleigh and moving through Charlotte...how nice would that be?

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology

[ArtVandelay]

I'd be more pumped about being paired against Tennessee than where we play. Obviously this is not what the bracket will look like (or, if recent history is an indicator, not even close), but you'd have to like Duke's chances against a team like Tennessee. UCLA, G-Town, and Wash St would all be much tougher draws, due to their style of play. Tennessee would be looking to run and gun against a team that, in my view, is better than them at running and gunning. But this is too far down the road. If I were a betting man, I would still say Duke ends up a 2 seed, although I must admit they've been surprising me. If we were, the question would then be - who would you rather play out of the "top four" (i.e. Kansas, UNC, Memphis, or UCLA)?