After surviving a brief scare against Siena in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, the Duke Blue Devils rolled past TCU to earn a spot in the Sweet 16 of March Madness. Former Duke head coach Mike ‘Coach K’ Krzyzewski knows a thing or two about advancing in March Madness, but he’s not quite ready to say who is the favorite to win the national championship.
During a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Coach K acknowledged that he doesn’t think that any of the remaining teams, including his own Duke Blue Devils, can be called the clear-cut favorite to emerge as national champions and the end of March Madness.
“I don’t know if there’s a clear-cut favorite right now,” Krzyzewski said. “How about the Big Ten having six teams.”
The teams that Mike Krzyzewski was referring to were the six teams from the Big Ten Conference that have made it to the Sweet 16 in Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois. That makes the Big Ten the conference with the most amount of teams heading into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
But while Coach K wouldn’t yet pick a favorite, the Duke Blue Devils are certainly in that mix. They were eliminated in the Final Four last season by Florida, but once again look like a national championship contender as one of the No. 1 seeds.
Following Florida’s stunning upset loss to Iowa in the round of 32, Duke, along with Arizona and Michigan, are the remaining No. 1 seeds in the tournament.
