Where? Durham, North Carolina; if you throw a rock, you'll probably hit a Division I school, which will then promptly have you arrested for throwing a rock at it, because that's just tacky.
When? Sunday the 7th, in Greensboro, NC.
How? The Blue Devils held off an upset-minded sixth seed to claim their first ACC title in six years, beating NC State 70-60.
Upset? No. Duke split the regular season title with Florida State; by beating the Seminoles head to head, they were given the first seed.
RPI: 5
SOS: 7
There are few brands as familiar in college basketball as Duke. While more famous on the men's side, it's not like Duke has neglected its women's program.
Junior guard Jasmine Thomas, a member of the All-ACC first team, averages 15.8 points per game to go with 4.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and over two steals a game. She gets strong help inside from senior forward Joy Cheek and junior center Krystal Thomas, who both average over six rebounds per game. Duke's defense holds opponents to about 55 points per game. Offensively, they can struggle against good teams; their points per game average is inflated by a couple of beatings administered to Houston Baptist and North Carolina Central.
As the numbers indicate, they've played a strong, competitive schedule, though looking at it shows a lot of teams that were probably expected to be better than they are. Duke's best win out of conference is most likely Ohio State. The loss to Texas A&M early in the season hurts, and getting smacked around at Cameron by UConn probably smarts, though everyone loses to UConn.