When it came to filling out one's March Madness bracket, there is a good chance that either Duke or Michigan ended up being someone's national champion. Both were No. 1 seeds in their respective regions. However, their results on Thursday could not have gone any differently. While Michigan messed around with Howard in the first half, Duke almost got upset by Siena in its first-round game.
Michigan did not take its first-round opponent very seriously. The No. 16-seeded Bison only trailed the Wolverines by four at halftime, 50-46. Then, Dusty May's team hunkered down on defense to fully take control in the second half. The Wolverines outscored the Bison 51-34 in the final frame to win comfortably, 101-80. As far as Duke was concerned in its first-round game, it was a tale of two halves.
Duke played awful in the first 20 minutes, trailing the No. 16-seeded Saints by nine heading into halftime. Down 43-32 entering the second half, Duke similarly put the clamps down on defense, outscoring Siena 39-22 after intermission to win by the slimmest of margins, 71-65. Although Gerry McNamara put on a coaching clinic in defeat, Jon Scheyer is feeling less comfortable about his team.
Right now, Michigan looks more like a team that can win it all, when compared to what Duke showed.
Michigan looked so much better than Duke during their first-round games
Truth be told, the term "survive and advance" was coined during the NCAA Tournament for a reason. It does not matter how much a team wins by or what it looks like, just get to the next round, and all is good in the world. However, only one of these juggernauts can win this year's national championship. There are other high-end programs out there that can do it, but Duke and Michigan are the favorites.
With that in mind, Michigan played with considerably more togetherness than Duke did. It may be a construct of the Wolverines' best players being upperclassmen, whereas Duke tends to lean on freshman phenom Cameron Boozer more so than Scheyer ever wants to admit. Over the last decade or so, the teams that have the more experienced players tend to perform better in March Madness.
Ultimately, neither Michigan or Duke can play like they did for extended stretches in the first half and come out of the Round of 32 unscathed. TCU may be riding high after beating Ohio State at the buzzer, but Jamie Dixon can coach. Does Scheyer know that? As for Michigan, yes, Saint Louis humiliated Georgia on Thursday night, but the A-10 power seems like the wrong team to overlook...
Right now, Michigan might have the slightest mental edge of winning March Madness over Duke.