Why aren’t Duke and Kentucky playing in the NCAA tournament?

For the first time since 1976, the NCAA tournament will not include appearances from either the Duke Blue Devils or the Kentucky Wildcats.

For the first time since 1976, the NCAA tournament will not include appearances from either the Duke Blue Devils or the Kentucky Wildcats.

March Madness will look different without these two programs, which together compose the largest share of the talent pool in the NBA. Both had incredibly disappointing campaigns in 2020-21 and neither gained any of the momentum necessary to receive invitations to the tournament.

So how did both Duke and Kentucky fail to earn a trip to March Madness?

DUKE

Duke began the season ranked No. 9 in the nation but the success never materialized on the floor. They returned just four players from last season, losing the rest either to the pros or the transfer portal.

Meanwhile, consensus five-star recruit Jalen Johnson suffered a foot injury early into his freshman season and ultimately decided to focus on his NBA career. The team struggled on the defensive side of the floor and was never able to separate themselves as a legitimate threat.

Duke’s disappointing 2020-21 campaign (13-11) included three different three-game losing streaks, including back-to-back overtime heartbreakers in two of their final regular-season appearances.

The Blue Devils last missed a tournament in 1995, a season in which coach Mike Krzyzewski was largely absent due to a back injury. Their streak, which was extended over 24 seasons, was the third-longest among all NCAA teams.

Despite a middling record, Duke could have earned an automatic bid to the big dance if they were able to win the ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C. After winning their first two games, the Blue Devils were set to play in the quarterfinals against Florida State.

After one of their walk-on players tested positive for COVID-19, the school announced on Thursday morning, the program was forced to bow out for the remainder of the games.

While the Blue Devils were still eligible for an at-large bid, the committee ultimately decided that the invitation was better suited for a team with less of a middling performance on the season.

KENTUCKY

Kentucky, a college basketball powerhouse that consistently produces NBA-caliber talent, also did not receive an invitation to the tournament. This was only the second time that the Wildcats were excluded since head coach John Calipari was hired in 2009.

Quite simply, this was a particularly young and inexperienced squad for the Wildcats (9-16) that never gelled on the floor. That reared its head early as Kentucky lost six of their first seven games on the season.

In fairness, this team returned just 7.6 percent of minutes from last season, far and away one of the lowest marks in the nation. The program also lost longtime assistant coach Kenny Payne, who was hired as an assistant for the New York Knicks.

Calipari was heavily relying on productivity from freshmen like BJ Boston, who was a preseason projected lottery pick. Boston, however, never made an impact for the Wildcats and was held scoreless when they were eliminated in the first round of the SEC tournament.

Kentucky also received just eight games from Terrence Clarke, a consensus five-star recruit who was widely considered a first-round talent as well, who was oft-injured.

Outside of promising defensive potential from freshman Isaiah Jackson, there was very little worth celebrating during this season for the Wildcats.

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