Skip Bayless has the Duke Blue Devils earned March Madness due to the impressive skills of one player.
The 2025 NCAA Tournament has begun, and with that, there are expert predictions about the ultimate winner of the competition.
As always, the top seed in each bracket is expected to be the most powerful team in March’s madness, including the Duke Blue Devils.
Speaking of which, NBA analyst Skip Bayless predicts Duke will go far, and believes Cooper Flag will play a key role in the process.
Bayless made a living from his controversial take. The veteran sports analyst made headlines again by claiming that Duke’s Cooper Flag would become a better player than NBA legend Carmelo Anthony.
“That’s all my logic. Cooper Flag will be a better NBA player than Carmelo Anthony. So Cooper Flag looks like he’ll be a much better player in this tournament,” Bayless said on the podcast.
There’s no doubt that Flag is a great outlook. In fact, he even sees it as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
No one has denied the possibility of Flagg, but it may be too early to precede NBA legends like Melo. Certainly, Anthony retired without winning the NBA Championship, but he was one of the best scorers of his generation.
On top of that, Melo had an incredible NCAA career and was selected as the third overall pick in the legendary 2003 NBA Draft, leading the Syracuse Orange to the 2003 title.
Back in the Skip take on Flag and Duke’s journey, he believes they will take on the Auburn Tigers in the NCAA Tournament final.
Bayless went so far as to predict the final play of a potential matchup.
“Duke beat Auburn in the National Championship Game. I’m 74-year-old Auburn, 72, and the best in college basketball got it with two free throws on the Cooper Flag.”
As a 6’9” step forward, Flag averaged 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game for Duke in 32 contests.
The Flag and the Blue Devils are all set to launch their March Madness Journey by playing against mountain climbers from Mount St. Mary in the first round.