Bracket projections are heating up with only a few games left on the regular-season schedule.
Despite ESPN’s Joe Lunardi dropping Duke down to a No. 4 seed in his Friday projections, The Athletic’s Brian Bennett still has the Blue Devils among his top 12 overall teams.
Bennett had Duke as the No. 3 seed in the South region of his full-field projections, scheduled to battle Louisiana Tech in the opening round.
Houston and Tennessee kept the top two spots in the region, with Purdue, Connecticut, and Arizona claiming the other three No. 1 seeds.
The North Carolina Tar Heels stayed as a No. 2 seed in Bennett’s East region, drawing Oakland in the opening round. Clemson (No. 5, South) was the only other team to make the opening round right away, with Wake Forest and Virginia both subjected to the First Four play-in games against Seton Hall and Drake, respectively.
If Duke beats Louisiana Tech in the first round of his hypothetical bracket, either South Carolina or Gonzaga would await in the second round.