Jay Williams explains why Duke's stock is falling heading into NCAA Tournament

Duke was knocked out of the ACC Tournament on Thursday in its opening quarterfinal matchup against NC State, losing to the Wolfpack 74-69.

The Blue Devils have now lost two games in a row heading into next week’s NCAA Tournament. ESPN College GameDay host Jay Williams explained why these recent losses have Duke trending in a downward direction heading into the big dance.

“It’s losing two games in a row,” Williams said ahead of ESPN College GameDay on Saturday. “Losing to North Carolina, but then the way they lost they other night [to NC State] — I know the way Jon Scheyer, the way he coaches, I don’t see that translating on the floor to some of the guards. I think drawing a line in the sand for their guards [could benefit Duke.] The last time Duke lost two games going into the tournament, you know what happened. An early exit in the NCAA Tournament.”

The last time that happened was in 2007, where six-seed Duke ended up losing to 11-seed VCU in the first round.

However, Duke’s losses might not be so bad. After Kentucky‘s poor performance in the SEC Tournament, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi moved the Blue Devils in the final three-seed line as the 12th overall seed. Meanwhile, the Wildcats drop two spots and are now projected to be a four-seed, according to Lunardi’s Saturday morning projections.

With Duke’s impressive regular season, including a 5-4 record against Quad 1 opponents — including a win agains fellow projected top 16 seed Baylor. Not only that, but their regular season win against NC State on March 4 has moved into the Quad 1 tier after their current run in the ACC Tournament.

Duke ultimately head into the NCAA Tournament next week at 24-8 overall. They finished two games behind North Carolina for the regular season title in the ACC. The Tar Heels sweep the Blue Devils in their storied rivalry series this season, which would end up being the difference between the ACC regular season title, and a one-seed in the conference and NCAA Tournaments, as Lunardi explained on Saturday during ESPN College GameDay that the Tar Heels are locked into one of the four top seeds next week.

However, the Blue Devils will have to wait and see where the selection committee ultimately slots them this Sunday, where they’ll look to put the last two game behind them and get a fresh start beginning next week.