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The 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament will play out without some of college basketball’s elite schools.
Duke, Kentucky and Louisville are among the best schools not to make the tournament after disappointing 2020-21 seasons.
The Blue Devils had to win or at least make the ACC tournament championship. The team were climbing high after beating Boston College and Louisville, but it wasn’t long after a positive coronavirus test on the team forced them out of the playoffs.
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Duke finished the season 13-11 overall and 9-9 in the ACC.
The NCAA Selection Committee determined that the team hadn’t done enough to earn a spot in the 68 field. And neither did Kentucky or Louisville.
Kentucky started the season 10th in the Associated Press Top 25, but finished 9-16 overall and 8-9 in the SEC. This is the first time the Wildcats have not made the tournament since 2013 and the first time the school has ended the season with a loss record since the 1988-89 season.
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“My teams have historically played like they’re losing, they’re going to the electric chair,” Calipari said at the end of his season, via Kentucky Sports Radio. “This team didn’t. [At] We have done times. But maybe physically we weren’t able to. But you know what, here is what I would say. For them to play like they started this game and then play the second half the way they played says a lot about them. They never give up on anything. They haven’t stopped once this year. “
Louisville lost to Duke at the ACC tournament, solidifying in missing the NCAA tournament.
Chris Mack’s side finished 13-7 with an 8-5 record in the ACC. The Cardinals might have been able to come in without the upset conference title wins in the Big East and the Pac-12.
Mitch Barnhart, chairman of the men’s basketball selection committee, said on the selection show that the school’s COVID-19 breaks haven’t helped either.
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“Certainly, breaks were part of that conversation,” he said, via WDRB-TV. “What we noticed, they were being reflected on as part of the discussions we had. The challenge was that you had two teams that had some really great tournaments in Georgetown and in the state of Oregon. .. and in taking these places some people must have fallen. Unfortunately, you have the opportunity, during the year, to get your CV where you want it. Ultimately, if not not where you want, you have the option to go to the tournament and secure the (automatic qualifier). Two teams did that, and in doing so, they pulled two bids. “
Each team also decided to give up the NIT.
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