If talent alone won the national championship in men's college basketball, the Duke Blue Devils would waltz to the 2017-18 crown.
All season long, however, inconsistency has plagued Mike Krzyzewski's team. Friday's 74-69 loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament semifinal showed the wide range of problems.
Duke struggled to rebound. The defense rarely contested shots. Grayson Allen had another cold night, and nobody filled the three-point void. Several players were careless with the ball, and the offense lacked energy throughout the game.
Those issues appear often enough that it's difficult to believe the Blue Devils will even string together four consecutive wins to reach San Antonio, the site of the Final Four.