Here are Duke’s top challengers as it navigates the NCAA Tournament South Region
Duke limps into the NCAA Tournament, missing injured guard Caleb Foster and riding a two-game losing streak.
Still, the Blue Devils (24-8) received the No 4 seed in the South Region, which will have opening weekend games played in Memphis, Pittsburgh, New York and Indianapolis before the four surviving teams gather in Dallas for regional play next week.
Houston (30-4) is the South Region’s top seed, the second tournament in a row the Cougars have a No. 1 seed next to their name on brackets. Houston made the Final Four in 2021 but lost in the Elite 8 and Sweet 16 the last two seasons. The Cougars enter the tournament ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET).
Although Houston is the only South Region team in the NET Top 10, the region features nine teams that finished in the NET top 30, including Duke (10), second-seeded Marquette (14) and third-seeded Kentucky (18).
Even the two teams that meet in the First Four to determine the South’s No. 10 seed, Colorado (25) and Boise State (26), are NET top 30 teams.
So what the region lacks in top-end talent, it makes up for in depth.
This season, Duke didn’t play any of the other 16 teams that landed in the South Bracket.
The Blue Devils went 5-4 against teams that eventually made the NCAA Tournament, beating Michigan State, 74-65, and Baylor, 78-70, in nonconference play as well as ACC foes Clemson (72-71), N.C. State (79-64) and Virginia (84-59). Duke lost twice to North Carolina (93-84 in Chapel Hill, 84-79 in Durham), at home to Arizona, 78-73 and, last Thursday, 74-69 to N.C. State in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
Duke’s opening round game at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center is against Vermont (28-6), the America East Conference champions, which enters the tournament on a 10-game winning streak. The Catamounts have only lost once since Dec. 22.
They’ve played three teams this season that made the NCAA Tournament field, beating Coastal Athletic Conference champion Charleston, 73-64, and Yale, 66-65, while losing to Patriot League champion Colgate, 77-71.
Should Duke take care of Vermont, its next opponent on Sunday at Barclays Center would be either No. 5 seed Wisconsin (22-13) or No. 12 seed James Madison (31-3).
The Badgers were the Big Ten Tournament runner up, while JMU spent time in the AP Top 25 rankings this season after opening the season with a 79-76 win at Michigan State. The Dukes are on a 13-game winning streak.
If top-seeded Houston emerges from the tournament’s first weekend, the Cougars would await Duke should the Blue Devils advance to the Sweet 16 in Dallas.
Houston opens play against No. 16 seed Longwood in Memphis and would play either No. 8 seed Nebraska (23-10) or No. 9 seed Texas A&M (24-11) in the second round.
ACC champion N.C. State joins Duke in the South Region, with the No. 11 seeded Wolfpack (22-14) facing No. 6 Texas Tech (23-10) Thursday night in Pittsburgh. The other South Region teams at that site are Kentucky (23-9) and No. 14 seed Oakland (23-11)
The South Region team that survives games from Pittsburgh will face the team that advances out of Indianapolis. Marquette (25-9) plays No. 15 seed Western Kentucky (22-11) while No. 7 seed Florida (24-11) will play the winner of the Boise State-Colorado First Four game.