It's been a while since Coach K coached an NCAA Tournament game, as the legendary Duke men's basketball coach retired in 2022. But the Hall of Famer will be involved with the Big Dance in 2026.
Coach K will be making regular appearances on "The Pat McAfee Show" on ESPN throughout the NCAA Tournament. The legendary Duke men's basketball coach is excited to discuss the Big Dance.
Duke landed a No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, as the Blue Devils will take on No. 16 seed Siena in the first round. The Blue Devils could have a second round date against No. 8 seed Ohio State this weekend.
But Coach K thinks that two teams in particular were shafted with their NCAA Tournament draws.
Coach K has a problem with St. John’s and UConn, two of the three Big East teams in the NCAA Tournament, being placed in the same loaded East Region that also features Duke, Kansas and Michigan State.
St. John's and UConn would have to play each other in order to reach the Final Four.
“I found [it] hard to believe,” Coach K said on the Pat McAfee Show. “The Big East only got three teams in which is probably right, but their top two teams are in the same region, Connecticut and St John’s. That never happens. You know, like the Big 10 has five [teams], but they’re spread out. The Big 12 has four, one in each of the regions. So I thought that was a really, not a good thing to do for for the Big East.”
Coach K thinks St. John's was given a bad draw.
“And it’s a little bit surpris[ing] St John’s being a 5 seed with what they’ve done lately."
Rick Pitino reacts to St. John's draw
Pitino, meanwhile, was not surprised.
“I thought we’d be a 5th seed,” he told Jennifer Williams of Fox -5. “A couple of guys in my set thought it was possible to be a 4th seed, but they don’t take into account how you’re playing at the end of the year. The old days — like 8, 10 years ago — it counted the last 10 games of the season as what they really looked at. They don’t do that anymore …
“The Big East was really weak from a NET standpoint….So we gotta get the Big East stronger.”
This story was originally published by The Spun on Mar 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Basketball section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.