Report: Coach K Requests to Be Placed in Midwest Regional, Play in Chicago

Mike Krzyzewski reportedly wants to coach his final NCAA tournament in Chicago if given the choice.

In his final NCAA tournament, Mike Krzyzewski prefers to coach closer to home.

Krzyzewski has requested the committee place Duke in the Midwest region if they get the No.1 overall seed so he can coach in his hometown of Chicago during the regional finals, The Athletic’s Seth Davis confirmed Wednesday.

Source confirms to @TheAthleticCBB what ESPN's Wright Thompson first reported: Duke has requested to be placed in Midwest Regional (Chicago) instead of East (Philly). Chicago is Coach K's hometown. Higher seed normally goes to closest region but school decides preference.

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 3, 2022

When building the bracket, the committee usually sticks to a set of rules, including separating teams from the same conference. One rule tries to reward the best teams by placing them in the closest bracket geographically. The top overall team has a chance to choose which region to play in.

However, sometimes the committee allows a team to change its preference from closest geographically to a different region.

If Duke is given that high seed, and can select where it wants to play, the Midwest region will reportedly be at the top of its list, despite the fact that Duke University is closer to Philadelphia, the host of the East Regional Final.

Historically Duke has often played in the East regional bracket, including in 2019, when the Blue Devils were the top overall seed and had their choice of any of the four locations.

Of course, all of this requires Duke being the top overall seed to even have a choice of where to play. So, if Duke has a strong ACC tournament, don’t be surprised to see them placed in the Midwest Region on Selection Sunday.