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Duke missed out on a top seed as the committee seeded them second in the East region. The Blue Devils will take on No. 15 seeded Troy in Greenville, South Carolina at 7:20 p.m. Eastern on Friday, March 17. TBS will have the broadcast of the game. According to OddsShark, Duke is favored by 18.5 points.
Troy won the Sun Belt conference to clinch a bid to the Big Dance. After struggling with injuries and inconsistency during the middle of the season, the Blue Devils have come on strong late. Duke won the ACC Tournament defeating Notre Dame in the ACC Championship.
Troy has little experience playing against tournament teams. The Trojans did keep it close in a December contest against USC where Troy lost by just five points. They won four straight games to win the conference tournament and have won six straight.
Duke has a talented, young roster with freshman forward Jayson Tatum surging over the last month of the season. The Blue Devils have a strong body of work with wins over teams like Michigan State, Florida, North Carolina, Louisville and Florida State.
While the spread for the game has not been released, Vegas likes Duke’s chances of winning another national title. According to OddsShark, Duke and North Carolina are the favorites to win the tournament at +600.
Troy and Duke find themselves in a difficult East region with No. 1 Villanova, No. 3 Baylor and No. 4 Florida State all capable of making a Final Four run.
