A smorgasbord of Duke & UNC-related articles, after a weekend of processing the big game:
- After yesterday’s last batch of conference games, the bracket for the 2011 ACC Tournament is set, as on Friday Carolina will take on the winner of UVA/Miami and Duke will face either Maryland or NC State.
- Tar Heel Fan’s “beyond the box” highlights how much better Carolina was on both ends, posting an offensive efficiency over 115 against a very good defensive team and held Duke to some bad numbers on their end without even accruing many steals or blocks.
- ESPN’s Pat Forde seems to think the torch has been passed (or forcibly taken) back to UNC as they took the ACC crown from Duke.
- Coach K seems to think his team is still very confident after the loss at UNC. Playing at Chapel Hill will always be a tough road test, and as such could be taken as an aberration of what Duke is capable of, but a lot of people will be watching to see how well the Devils play in the ACC tournament after closing out the regular season in a funk of sorts.
- CBS’ Gary Parrish seems to think that with Kendall Marshall in control of the offense, Carolina is a contender. Parrish will probably be beaten senseless by Larry Drew’s mother any moment now.
- SI’s Luke Winn is thanking the Heels for at least giving a little intrigue to Championship Week as it regards who the #1 NCAA seeds will be.
- UNC-Duke also won in the ratings, as CBS pulled a 3.2 rating for the game, the highest-rated regular season game on any network since… UNC-Duke, March 8, 2009.
- The 8th-ranked Duke women’s team took the ACC tournament title yesterday as they defeated #19UNC 81-66 behind 21 points from tourney MVP Jasmine Thomas. Congrats to the Lady Blue Devils!