Duke remains great. The rest of the ACC needs a basketball reckoning.

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RALEIGH, N.C. – We can officially report that all’s good with Cooper Flagg’s left ankle, which means all’s good with Duke. Blue Devils fans can exhale. Their 93-49 victory to open the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, with Flagg showing no sign of distress in his 22 minutes, means the march to a potential national championship is on.

As for the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference?

Time to turn on the sirens. DEFCON 1. Take cover immediately. Look out below.

We are two days into this NCAA men’s basketball tournament, and all is not good with Duke’s peers in the nation’s most-storied basketball conference. Already, the ACC is down to its last breath – and it stinks like a case of acid reflux after a night of bratwurst and bourbon.

Maybe Duke can sanitize some of the stench. With Flagg at full health, the Blue Devils appear to be that good. But this year, there’s no running from the truth.

The ACC needs a basketball reckoning.

With just one team of the remaining 32 in the NCAA Tournament, there is no plastering over cracks in the foundation. After Louisville’s decisive loss to Creighton, Clemson’s embarrassing crashout against McNeese and North Carolina’s failed comeback from 22 points down in the second half against Ole Miss, this cannot be spun.

Only Duke, and Duke alone, can save the ACC’s wretched reputation for this year. And even then, the Blue Devils cutting down the nets in San Antonio would only suggest a heroic effort by coach Jon Scheyer and his players to overcome a league that inflated Duke’s record and didn’t provide the kind of test it deserved before the…

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Source link : https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/columnist/dan-wolken/2025/03/21/acc-mens-basketball-mess-march-madness/82601680007/

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Publish date : 2025-03-21 23:47:00

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