Duke will dominate Alabama – in the stands

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A walk though Seton Hall basketball’s $55 million practice facility

A walk though Seton Hall basketball’s $55 million practice facility

NEWARK – You can pore over the 3-point shooting data, compare superstars Cooper Flagg and Mark Sears, debate which head coach is more ready for the moment as Duke and Alabama gear up for a titanic showdown in Saturday’s NCAA Tournament East Regional final.

One thing is undisputable: Duke fans will be omnipresent throughout the Prudential Center when the ball goes up at 8:49 p.m.

Alabama fans won’t.

The SEC may be taking over college basketball’s rankings with their limitless financial resources, but it remains a football league at heart. The proof was all over the Rock Thursday. Duke fans dominated in the stands during the regional semis. That was expected. BYU supporters more than doubled those of the Crimson Tide. That was not.

The scene was a reminder that while you can buy a dynamite roster in college basketball right now, you can’t buy a fan culture – the kind that can sway a close game in March Madness.

“Duke travels,” Blue Devils guard Tyrese Proctor said. “Wherever we play, it’s great having the support from everyone. Everyone coming out to see us succeed is a big reason why we come out with wins.”

They’re also the reason why Thursday’s doubleheader attendance – 18,617 – was the largest ever to witness college basketball at the Prudential Center. It even surpassed the 18,278 who watched Kentucky’s victory over North Carolina in the 2011 East Regional final here.

That was two leading bluebloods doing battle. And back then, it didn’t cost $300-plus for upper-deck baseline seating, which is what tickets were going for Thursday.

“The support is incredible,” Duke center Stanley Borden said. “We’ve felt it everywhere we’ve gone. At away arenas, though you have the home fans, there’s a lot of blue in those crowds.”

As Borden pointed out, more than a few of those fans are based in the metropolitan…

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Source link : https://www.app.com/story/sports/college/2025/03/28/march-madness-prediction-duke-will-dominate-alabama-in-the-stands/82703162007/

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Publish date : 2025-03-28 21:32:00

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