Sunday felt familiar to the Duke Blue Devils. It centered around the fact that Duke could not figure out Notre Dame, cementing their conference rival as far and away the best team in the country.
The Fighting Irish cruised to a 16-6 win over Duke in the ACC Tournament championship game on Sunday, completing the double-dip of the regular season and tournament titles.
Unsurprisingly, they were announced as the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament during that evening’s selection show.
Following that announcement, John Danowski’s Blue Devil team was penciled in as the No. 2 team in the tournament. This NCAA Tournament appearance is Duke’s 26th all-time. Blue Devils will host Utah Utes in the opening round at Koskinen Stadium on May 11 at 2:30 p.m.
πππ ππ. π ππππ π₯@DukeMLAX π#NCAAMLAX pic.twitter.com/vQhQSJbGA3
— NCAA Lacrosse (@NCAALAX) May 6, 2024
The Blue Devils head into the NCAA Tournament with a 12-5 overall record and a runner-up finish at the ACC Championship. Duke is 43-22 all-time in NCAA Tournament play, has advanced to Championship Weekend 14 times, and has won three NCAA titles.
Most notably, Duke made the national championship last season before falling to Notre Dame 13-9 in the national title game.
If the Blue Devils advance, they will travel to Hempstead, NY, to take on the Maryland/Princeton matchup winner. Duke played and beat Princeton 17-8 earlier this season at Koskinen Stadium.