The Duke Blue Devils have only played one game in the 2024-25 men’s basketball season, but ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi sees no reason to doubt them thus far.
Lunardi updated his projected postseason field on Tuesday morning, and the Blue Devils took the top spot in the East region.
Head coach Jon Scheyer and his team beat the Maine Black Bears 96-62 at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Monday thanks to 40 combined points from freshmen [autotag]Kon Knueppel[/autotag] and [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag]. Flagg, the top-ranked player in the Class of 2024, paced the team with seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals, while Knueppel made three 3-pointers.
The Kansas Jayhawks remained Lunardi’s top overall seed, but Duke will have the chance to unseat them on November 26 in Las Vegas. The Alabama Crimson Tide and Gonzaga Bulldogs joined them on the top line.
Duke’s projected path to the Final Four would be no picnic, however. Lunardi put Connecticut, the two-time defending national champions, as the second seed in the East with the Arizona Wildcats at the No. 3 spot.