Duke may have tied North Carolina on the ACC standings and pushed ahead of the Tar Heels in KenPom and ESPN BPI, but ESPN’s Joe Lunardi still thinks UNC has a better tournament resume.
The longtime ESPN bracket expert shared his updated top 16 teams on Thursday, and the Blue Devils only moved up to the 10th overall spot.
Duke featured as the No. 3 seed in the South region behind Houston and Tennessee, the third- and fifth-ranked teams in the nation on Lunardi’s board. Illinois rounded out the fourth seed in the region.
The Tar Heels, despite three losses in their past six games, remained one of Lunardi’s No. 2 seeds. They sat in his East region behind Connecticut, with Iowa State and San Diego State behind them.
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) February 22, 2024
Lunardi currently projects the ACC with four tournament teams, with Clemson as one of his No. 5 seeds and Virginia elsewhere in the field. Wake Forest was his first team out.