NCAA men’s tournament Bubble Watch: Duke is hanging on by a thread

8:33 PM ET

This season, we’ve become accustomed to many strange things: no fans or very few in arenas; games being cancelled; and championships being awarded in leagues where teams played very different numbers of games.

Now, in the wake of Duke’s 91-73 loss at North Carolina, it appears we’re about to see an NCAA tournament played without the Blue Devils. That hasn’t happened since 1995.

Naturally, there’s always the possibility Mike Krzyzewski’s team catches fire in the ACC tournament and captures the league’s automatic bid. Seeing mighty Duke take on the role of a plucky bid thief in Greensboro, North Carolina, would certainly be one more amazing sight to add to the 2020-21 file.