3 Reasons the Duke Blue Devils Could Win the National Title

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The 2012-13 college basketball season has not officially started, but we still have a pretty good idea on how teams will look entering the new season. As for the Duke Blue Devils, they are good enough to win the national title this season.

Duke lost its best player over the offseason in Austin Rivers, but it will still have several returning starters and many great players on its team.

Duke may have exited in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year, but they will still have a really good team.

Read on to see three reasons why Duke could win the national title. 

Lethal from Behind the Arc

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The Blue Devils have been known as a guard-oriented team for quite some time now. As a result, Duke has been a three-point shooting team in the past few years. This year will be no exception. 

Duke may be losing Austin Rivers, who was great from behind the arc, but it will still have Seth Curry and Ryan Kelly on the team. Not to mention, incoming freshman Rasheed Sulaimon has the skill set to be one of the best shooters on this team.

Expect these three players alone to do work from deep range all season long. 

Depth

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Duke has three returning starters from last year's team in Seth Curry, Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly. Quinn Cook, Tyler Thornton and Josh Hairston will all be back as well.

Those six players alone make up a good team, but Duke will also be bringing in some very impressive talent. Redshirt freshmen Alex Murphy and Marshall Plumlee, along with incoming freshmen Rasheed Sulaimon and Amile Jefferson will be new additions to the team. 

Curry, Mason Plumlee and Kelly are guaranteed starters at this point. Together, these three players averaged 36.1 points per game last year. Austin Rivers led the team in scoring last season, but these three players were right behind him.

The other two positions could be filled by just about anyone on this team. Cook and Murphy will likely start the season off in the starting five, but Sulaimon, Jefferson and Thornton will be getting a lot of playing time. Once Marshall Plumlee returns from an injury, he will make an impact on this team as well.

Although Duke is usually a three-point shooting team, it will have plenty of talent in the front court this season. Mason Plumlee will lead the charge, since he did average 11.1 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game last season and all. 

There is a good player at every position for Duke this season. 

Senior Leadership

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Including Todd Zafirovski, the Blue Devils have four seniors on their team. However, Curry, Plumlee and Kelly will be the main leaders on the team this year.

Although none of these players played significant roles for the team, they were a part of Duke's last national championship in the 2009-10 season. Curry was a redshirt, while Plumlee and Kelly received little roles for the team. Nonetheless, they've been on a national championship team.

Plumlee and Curry could have left for the NBA, but they decided to stick around for their senior seasons at Duke. 

These three players will not only be starting for Duke in the upcoming season, but they will also be leading the team all year long, and could lead them straight to the national championship.

 

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