Duke’s talent is superior in the Final Four, and it’s not close.
Jon Wilner The San Jose Mercury News The college sports world will spend the next five days frothing over a Final Four matchup for the ages, with bitter rivals Duke and North Carolina meeting in the semifinals for the first time — and on the final weekend of Mike Krzyzewski’s coaching career, no less.The Blue Devils possessed the most NBA talent in the West regional, by far. Anything short of a run to New Orleans would have approached a misuse of personnel.
One could make the case that UNC coach Hubert Davis, Kansas’ Bill Self and Villanova’s Jay Wright had more difficult tasks navigating their teams through the regionals given their limited edge in raw talent relative to the competition.Winner: WarnerMedia. The parent company of TBS owns the broadcast rights to Saturday’s semifinals and will show Duke-North Carolina in the 9 p.m. window.
Loser: Elite Eight. The regional finals were a momentous letdown, with lopsided outcomes — only Villanova-Houston was close in the final minutes — and deeply offensive offense. Just two teams topped the 70-point mark. Houston and St. Peter’s didn’t make it to 50, and Villanova and Miami didn’t make it past 50. All in all, it was a bad look for the sport on one of its biggest weekends.
Winner: St. Peter’s. The first No. 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight is arguably the most unlikely regional final participant since the tournament expanded to its current shape in 1985. Based in Jersey City, the Peacocks have an annual budget that can be counted with an abacus and one of the toughest coaching jobs in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference . Don’t be surprised if Shaheen Holloway jumps to his alma mater, Seton Hall, this week. His leverage will never be greater.
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