The Duke Blue Devils moved closer to their first ACC regular-season championship since 2010 with a 65-61 win over Virginia on Wednesday night, also remaining in position for what would be, stunningly, their first outright ACC regular-season title since the 2005-06 team earned that distinction. Mike Krzyzewski and Co. (24-4, 14-3) are a full game ahead of second-place Notre Dame (20-8, 13-4) heading into Saturday's Sonic Blockbuster matchup at the Syracuse Orange (6 p.m. ET, ESPN and ESPN app).
What would an ACC title say about this Duke team? That 2010 Blue Devils team went on to win a national championship, but the aforementioned 2006 group was upset by LSU in the Sweet 16, so what should we take away — if anything — if Duke finishes the job and wins the regular-season trophy? Meanwhile, Syracuse (15-13, 9-8) will be looking to improve its seed in the conference tournament — and avoid facing Duke in the quarterfinals — for its best shot at the NCAA tournament.
ESPN's expert group of Myron Medcalf, Jeff Borzello, John Gasaway and Joe Lunardi compared this season's unit to the great Duke teams of the past, while also sizing up Syracuse's chances to pull the upset and stay hot at the ACC tournament in Brooklyn in a couple of weeks' time.
Duke forward Wendell Moore Jr. bounces a pass from half court to AJ Griffin for a one-handed dunk.
Medcalf: Well, this wouldn't be any fun if we didn't try to make this comparison. How about the 2009-10 national championship team? («Myron, that's a terrible comparison.» I know, Borzello. I know.) But hear me out. Paolo Banchero and Co. do not really play like any team from Duke's past. But the size in the lineup makes me think about that group in 2010 that beat Butler in the national title
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