The top-ranked Duke Blue Devils enter the NCAA Tournament as one of the clear favorites to cut down the nets, even with a brutal path standing between them and a national title.
But just hours after Duke was officially crowned the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, Peter Schrager raised eyebrows with a head-scratching and highly unconventional bracket prediction. Despite Duke’s dominance, Schrager picked the No. 4-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks to win it all—projecting them to upset Duke in the national championship game.
A bold pick that misses the mark
To be fair, Arkansas does have an electric freshman in Darius Acuff Jr., who led the Razorbacks in both scoring and assists during their regular-season loss to Duke. Backing a potential surprise run by the Hogs isn’t outrageous on its own.
However, taking Arkansas over Duke—especially over Duke’s superstar freshman Cameron Boozer—pushes the take into scorching-hot territory.
Duke already handled Arkansas earlier this season, securing a nine-point win. In that matchup, Boozer outshined Acuff decisively, pouring in 35 points—14 more than Acuff—to lead the Blue Devils comfortably. Since then, Boozer’s game has continued to elevate, and even with starting point guard Caleb Foster sidelined by injury, Duke has barely skipped a beat.
Schrager’s pick didn’t go unchallenged. Almost immediately, Seth Greenberg, a two-time ACC Coach of the Year during his time with Virginia Tech Hokies, shut it down with a blunt reminder: “Peter, you’re an expert on… football.”
Greenberg made it clear he wasn’t buying the Razorbacks’ title run—and certainly didn’t see them knocking off Duke in the season’s final game.