NCAA tournament Selection Sunday: Latest on Duke, UNC, others as 5 ACC teams make field
In coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final NCAA tournament as Duke’s coach, his Blue Devils will begin close to home and, if they advance, head a long way from home.
The NCAA tournament bracket, announced Sunday, has the Blue Devils as the No. 2 seed in the West Region. Duke begins play Friday at Greenville, South Carolina, against Cal State Fullerton at 7:10 p.m.
Duke (28-6) won the ACC regular season before losing 82-67 to Virginia Tech in the ACC tournament final on Saturday night at Barclays Center in New York.
The Blue Devils will be playing their first NCAA tournament game since 2019 after the pandemic canceled the 2020 tournament and Duke went 13-11 and missed last year’s field.
“It’s an exciting day, Selection Sunday,” Krzyzewski said. “It’s my last one, so it makes it even more exciting. To be picked second, a No. 2 seed, it means you’re one of the top eight teams in the country. That’s what the basketball people feel about things. I’m very proud of our team and our support staff. It’s the last time I’m going to be able to do this and to be a No. 2 seed is terrific.”
The Duke-Fullerton winner will play the winner of Friday night’s late game between No. 7 seed Michigan State and No. 10 Davidson on Sunday. The West Region semifinals and finals will be played at San Francisco.
For all Krzyzewski’s success in the NCAA tournament, with 12 Final Four appearances and five national championships, Duke has never won a tournament game in the Pacific Time Zone in his tenure.
Cal State Fullerton (21-10) won the Big West tournament to earn an automatic bid to the field of 68.
Notre Dame (22-10), runner-up to Duke in the ACC regular season, joined the Blue Devils in the NCAA tournament field and will play Rutgers in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, on Wednesday at 9:10 p.m. The winner of that game earns the No. 11 seed in the West Region and will play No. 6 seed Alabama on Friday in San Diego.
Gonzaga, the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, is the West Region’s top seed.
Meanwhile, North Carolina was placed in the East Region as the No. 8 seed where it will play No. 9 seed Marquette at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Fort Worth, Texas.
UNC (24-9) made the tournament as at-large team in Hubert Davis’ first season as head coach following Roy Williams’ retirement.
The team Duke beat in the ACC tournament semifinals, Miami (23-10), will also begin its NCAA tournament in Greenville, South Carolina. The Hurricanes were seeded No. 10 in the Midwest Region and will face No. 7 seed Southern California (26-7) from the Pac-12 on Friday at 3:10 p.m.
The fifth ACC team in the field is the one that earned the automatic bid, Virginia Tech. The Hokies (23-12), who were a .500 team at 10-10 on Jan. 26, enter the NCAA tournament among the nation’s hottest teams with 13 wins in their last 15 games. Virginia Tech won four games in four days to win the ACC tournament.
The Hokies, seeded No. 11 in the East Region, will play No. 6 seed Texas on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
This story was originally published March 13, 2022 at 6:15 PM.