Season Preview: #1 Duke

Games against 2012 NCAA Tournament teams: 11

Games against ACC top 4: 6

Games against ACC bottom 4: 7

Best non-conference game: 11/13 vs. Kentucky (in Atlanta)


Projected Starting Five:

F - Mason Plumlee (Senior)

F - Ryan Kelly (Senior)

F - Josh Hairston (Junior)

G - Seth Curry (Senior)

G - Tyler Thornton (Junior)


Most people are predicting that N.C. State will win the conference title this year.  I went in a different direction.  My main reason: 2003.  That's the last year that someone other than Duke or North Carolina won the conference title outright.  Until someone knocks off both of them, I'm not going to predict that it will happen.  So what does Duke have?  They have a very veteran team that is looking to rebound from an extremely embarrassing NCAA Tournament loss to #15 seed Lehigh.

I think Duke's best player is probably Ryan Kelly.  Just see how they played without him at the end of last year.  Kelly is a very dangerous weapon as a 4 with the ability to knock down threes.  The rest of the starting five is really solid as well.  Mason Plumlee can put up big numbers, and will have to down low.  Seth Curry has a ton of promise and if he gets more consistent he could be the team's leading scorer.  Expect this starting lineup to change some as the year goes on too, because talented freshmen like Amile Jefferson could break in.

Duke almost always plays the toughest non-conference schedule in the league.  This year is no exception.  They have an early season game against Kentucky that should be a dandy.  It's odd to see Duke in the Battle 4 Atlantis, because they are almost always in Maui or the preseason NIT.  But they will have to navigate a strong field there.  A January 12th game at N.C. State is one all ACC fans should mark on their calendars.

One thing that will change for Duke this year is I have to believe they will be better at home.  Maybe the weirdest stat in the ACC last year was that Duke lost three home games and didn't lose a road game in conference.  They don't really have that superstar player that they've had a lot over the past two decades.  But the collection of players should be battle tested enough to rise to the top of the ACC when the dust settles.