Duke Left Out of NCAA Bracket

Blue Devils not chosen for field, not among first four out

The NCAA Tournament bracket was unveiled on Sunday night, and Duke was left out of the field for the first time since the 1994-95 season.

Duke won two straight ACC Tournament games before a positive COVID test on the team forced the Blue Devils to cancel their quarterfinal game against Florida State. That left Duke with a 13-11 record, 9-9 in the conference.

It’s the first time since 1980-81 that a Duke team with a winning record was left out of the tournament. That year, the Blue Devils were 15-12 after a first-round loss in the ACC Tournament and went to the NIT. That was also the last Duke team to miss the tournament with Mike Krzyzewski as head coach.

The 1994-95 team finished 13-18, 2-14 in the ACC. Assistant Pete Gaudet served as interim coach for the final 19 games after Coach K had midseason back surgery.

After Duke’s COVID test was announced on Thursday, athletic director Kevin White said that the Blue Devils’ season was over. Over the next few days, however, rumors surfaced that the NCAA selection committee was still considering the Blue Devils for an at large bid or as one of the potential replacement teams. The “first four out”—the teams that just missed NCAA bids—will serve as emergency replacements if a team with an NCAA bid is forced to withdraw due to COVID tests.

Not only were the Blue Devils not chosen for the tournament, they also weren’t one of the first four out, closing all possible doors to continuing Duke’s streak of NCAA Tournaments.