ode Duke had a stronger resume than any of them heading into the tournament. They had more Quad one wins and they had zero losses outside of Quad one. They earned the overall number one seed.
They were not themselves entering the tournament, down two starters with foot injuries, one of which had a screw placed into a metatarsal on his right foot just 21 or 22 days ago. They also beat Michigan head to head within the last three weeks (for some reason everybody seems to forget that game).
I agree that Arizona was the best team heading into the tournament, but prior to the Duke injuries, which team was better was close to a toss-up. Betting line would have been maybe Arizona minus one or two on a neutral floor.
In today's game, Maliq Brown was also unwell with back spasms. They had to keep taking him out to heat pack it to keep it loose.
Duke was obviously capable of competing with UConn and winning the game. Minus one bone-headed play by a freshman back-up guard who only started once Foster broke his foot, not to mention a very low percentage long three by UConn, Duke would have made the Final Four anyway, despite the injuries.
Uconn earned the win with great play down the stretch and better poise, but is not necessarily a superior team. It's a one-and-done tournament.
A tip of the cap to the UConn players who made two game-winning plays within a five-second period of time (a great steal and a long, pure shot), but it's a very uninformed revisionist history that looks at those circumstances and concludes that the initial seeding was flawed. Duke beat Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, and Michigan in non-conference play, among others.
Again, congratulations to UConn for a hard-fought, exciting victory.
