Bubble Boys?

Today Duke dropped out of the Top 25 for the first time in 12 years. Although it's a sad day for Duke Nation, let's be realistic: this team is STILL in great position to make the NCAA Tournament. No team with an RPI under 30 has ever missed the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team. Duke will finish the season even if they lose the rest of their games with an RPI of under 30. As of now, Duke's schedule is #4 in the country. By the end of the year, many predict it will be #1. So, here's the situation for Duke: win your remaining home games and beat St. John's at the Garden to avoid a bad loss and you're ALMOST definitely in the tournament. If they win their remaining home games, beat St. John's and steal one of the last three on the road at either Clemson, BC, or UNC and they are a lock.

Let's be real here, Duke has struggled over the past month but you can't tell me that they are not one of the best 65 teams in the country. In fact, outside of the MD game last night, Duke has outplayed Virginia, FSU, and UNC before blowing double-digit leads in each. It's not like they are playing bad basketball. All they need is one win to regain their confidence and they are on their way to the tourney but they can't let this continue to spiral out of control.

In addition to the tough schedule and the RPI, this team has notched some great wins, including 6 Top 50 wins:
Top 25
Georgetown
Indiana
Air Force
Top 50
Clemson
BC
Gonzaga

Not to mention, they've beaten teams who are in contention to go to the NCAA Tournament like:
Davidson
Kent State
Holy Cross

All of their losses this season are to teams who are currently in the NCAA Tournament according to Bracketology on ESPN:
Marquette - N
VA Tech - H
G Tech - A
Virginia - A
FSU - H
UNC - H
MD - A

Goal for this team:
4-2 down the stretch
Win the remaining 2 home games (G Tech, MD)
Win 1 of 3 Road ACC Games (BC, Clemson, UNC) --> which will give them their elite road win
Win @ St. John's

Tough, not impossible. Go Duke!