Duke basketball went from heavy national title favorite to watching the Final Four Monday. The Blue Devils are feeling “sick” about not competing for the championship. Blue Devils legend Jay Bilas placed blame in a rare area: The Atlantic Coast Conference.
That right — the ESPN analyst called out the ACC for why Duke isn’t playing for the national championship. Bilas dropped his strong take before Florida took on Houston to close out March Madness on Monday night.
“I thought the biggest factor in the game was the fact that Duke was inexperienced in close games. And that’s where I felt the ACC really let ’em down,” Bilas said. “Everybody else in this Final Four had played games that came down to the wire day after day…”
Bilas delivers blunt takes. However, he’s blaming a conference that sent four teams to the tournament. Duke joined rivals North Carolina, Clemson, and Louisville in the tourney. And the ACC still holds the title of power conference representative.
Jay Bilas handed mixed reactions for Duke/ACC take
Bilas received a mix of agreement and criticism posts. Fans didn’t take long to chime in. Including one fan of the Big 12 basketball scene.
“It’s true. The ACC was trash,” one fan shared on X, as Houston represented the Big 12 in the Alamo Dome.
Others got perplexed about Bilas’ take, though.
“It’s the conference’s fault???” one other fan responded.
Another fan dropped a harsher take directed at Duke and Bilas.
“Oh, please. Duke was in position for that game to not even come down to the wire. It wasn’t inexperience. No amount of experience can prevent that level of choke. If they did what they were supposed to they run away with that game,” the fan bluntly posted.
Duke got led by freshman sensation Cooper Flagg. Many fans believed the five-star addition entered the tournament as an un-guardable player. Kon Kneuppel and Khaman Maluach arrived as two more freshmen stars. Still, the Blue Devils brought immense talent to the hardwood every single night. And still fell short of the national championship goal. Head coach Jon Scheyer dropped his blunt take after — blaming it on the defense.
Bilas, though, boldly blames the ACC for Duke’s inability to finish the job.
The post Duke legend Jay Bilas blames ACC amid Blue Devils’ Final Four exit appeared first on ClutchPoints.
