The Blue Devils Will Repeat

As we approach the start of the college basketball season and ponder who will cut down the nets in April it's important to realize how the landscape of college basketball has changed. Remember last year the tournament was dominated by mid major schools. There were several upsets in the first and second rounds and a team from Butler ended up in the national championship game. The reason for this is simple, major college programs recruit talent that doesn't stay for more than 2 years. Those programs never get a chance to put together a cohesive team because the pieces are are constantly changing. The best players go pro after their freshmen or sophomore year. It's almost embarrassing for a player to come back to school for their junior or senior seasons. Smaller schools retain their players and they end up providing veteran leadership. They learn how to play together as a team. This is not an indictment on the elite programs like UConn, Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, and Syracuse, but rather an acknowledgement of how the game has changed. We will no longer see the most talented team win the national championship. Instead it will be the team that knows how to execute down the stretch. That comes with experience. Duke has the best of both worlds. The Blue Devils have good players (not great players) that know how to execute in coach K's system. They may not be lottery picks, but they're solid 1st rounders that take a little longer to mature. You go to Duke to become a better basketball player and not necessarily to go pro as soon as you can. That's the difference. In 2011 Duke beats Washington by 6 to win the national championship. It should be an exciting year.