McDonald's Nuggets: Hot Take on Duke; Memphis benefits from LSU trouble
RANKINGS: 2019 Rivals150 | 2019 Team rankings | 2019 Position rankings
Dan McDonald is back with his weekend primer, McDonald's Nuggets. This week’s edition highlights the upcoming NCAA Tournament, offers up a recruiting update and names another Team of the Week.
MORE: Last week's Nuggets | Three-Point Play on LaMelo Ball, UNC, A&M
HOT TAKE: Duke should be a No. 1 seed with Zion back
This is pretty simple and may not even be that hot of a take, depending on how this weekend plays out. Duke is the best team in the country when Zion Williamson plays, so the Blue Devils should be a No. 1 seed no matter what happens this weekend, since Zion is back.
You can throw any scenario you want at me. It really doesn’t matter. Let North Carolina and Virginia play for one of the other spots. Let Kentucky and Tennessee play for one in the SEC Tournament. For the last spot, let’s pick between Gonzaga (because I don’t care what happened against St. Mary’s), Michigan State and Texas Tech.
All I know is if it were my call, the “eye test” would be the most important factor in putting the bracket together and Duke is clearly the best team with Zion back.
RECRUITING NOTE: LSU’s pain equals Penny’s gain?
After trending towards Memphis for quite some time, the momentum had started to shift toward LSU in the recruitment of five-star forward Trendon Watford. Four-star guard Lester Quinones was long considered to be favoring LSU. That was all until the news came out about Will Wade’s alleged recruiting violations that led to his suspension by the LSU administration.
Now both prospects seem to be back in play for Penny Hardway’s Tigers. In fact, Quinones is expected to be in town for an official visit this weekend. Georgia and Maryland are also involved in his recruitment. For Watford, Alabama joins LSU and Memphis on his list, but Duke recently sent two assistants to watch him in the state playoffs. Memphis is in a good position here to take advantage of the scandal at LSU.
ADVICE: Dear Selection Committee: Don’t worry about bubble teams
Every year after the bracket comes out, college basketball media members and coaches left out of the tournament complain about not getting into the NCAA Tournament. I get why they are doing it, but it’s a really tiring and predictable act. If after roughly 30 games you haven’t cemented your place in the 68-team field, you don’t have any reason to complain about not getting in. I hope the committee spends very little time focusing on splitting hairs between the bubble teams and more time sorting out seeds at the top of the bracket and creating interesting matchups throughout.
PREDICTION: Doubling down on Virginia
There are so many examples in sports history of teams who experience heartbreak one year coming back the following year and winning a championship. One recent example that jumps out more than any other in college hoops is North Carolina losing on the buzzer-beater in the championship against Villanova and then coming back the next year to cut down the nets.
I said a while back in this column that Virginia fans should go ahead and book flights and hotel rooms for Final Four weekend in Minneapolis. Last year’s loss to No. 16 seed UMBC is going to be the fuel for an already really talented team to make a run. Tony Bennett has been as successful as any coach in the country the last several years, but he has yet to make a Final Four run. He’s going to do it this year, and I might pick them to cut down the nets.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: Wofford
The only team in the country to go undefeated in conference play and win its conference tournament is Wofford. That’s just an incredible accomplishment for head coach Mike Young’s team in what was a really good year for the Southern Conference. Wofford, which owns the country's longest win streak at 20, spent a good chunk of the season ranked in the Top 25 and will be a tough out for any opponent the Terriers see next week in the NCAA Tournament.