Is Scheyer still coaching Duke? Then I'll take Duke as a potential Elite 8 matchup any day of the week (and twice on Sunday) just on its own.
But when weighed against having to play a potential team in the Elite 8 in their home state...it is not even a debate.
Want to hear an incredible factoid that I don't think people realize :
In the past 20 years, UConn has only lost two games after the first weekend of the tournament--and they were both us having to play a team in their home state/location.
In the last 35 years, UConn has only lost 8 games after the first weekend. Of those 8 total losses for UConn...6 of them were us having to play against a team in their home state/location.
So UConn essentially either blows it in the first weekend, gets stuck having to play an away game in the NCAA tournament, or wins the Championship. That is crazy to me.
Here are all of our NCAA losses in the past 35 years after the first weekend:
2009 vs Michigan State in Detroit, MI
2006 vs George Mason in Washington, DC
2003 vs Texas in San Antonio, TX
2002 vs Maryland in Syracuse, NY
1998 vs North Carolina in Greensboro, NC
1996 vs Mississippi State in Lexington, KY
1995 vs UCLA in Oakland, CA
1994 vs Florida in Miami, FL