Duke Looks Like They Will Miss The Tournament For The First Time Since ’95

Duke Mens’ basketball hasn’t missed the tournament since 1995. It was a year when Coach K. missed most of the season due to a ruptured disk in his lower back. What has been a down year for the Blue Devils looks like it will have an early end. Duke was ranked as high as No. 6 early in the year but fell out of the rankings for the first time since 2016. Now, one positive COVID-19 test has all but ended their season.

On Thursday morning, college basketball analyst Jeff Goodman reported that Duke had a positive COVID-19 test and wouldn’t be playing in the ACC tournament. Goodman has now reported that the team is preparing for their season to be over.

Duke is preparing for its season to be over, source told @stadium, understanding it is highly unlikely that the Blue Devils will get a NCAA tourney bid. https://t.co/VlI7YYIrhV

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 11, 2021

A late-season four-game winning streak helped boost Duke back into the bubble talks, but it looks like their hopes of dancing in March have been squashed. It seems curious that Duke would not be entering the ACC tournament due to one positive COVID test. Just the other day it was announced that a team would be allowed to compete in the NCAA tournament if they were able to produce five healthy players. You would think Duke would do everything in their power to be able to play their way into the NCAA tournament. Maybe they did, however, this still feels odd to me.

Despite all the jokes we make about Duke, it sucks that the team has to end their season with a forfeit in the ACC tournament. Having said that, it has been a tough year for some of the other blueblood programs. Kentucky and Michigan State are both in jeopardy of missing this years’ NCAA tournament as well.

On the bright side, at least the NCAA did what they needed to do to deliver a tournament this year. I don’t think I could have gone another year without March Madness. Thankfully, that doesn’t have to happen. It’s a sad end to a down season for Duke, but you can bet they will be back stronger than ever next year.

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