The Duke Blue Devils took care of business against Arizona on Friday night, leading Tucson with a 69-55 victory, and ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi rewarded their efforts in his latest projections.
Lunardi put head coach Jon Scheyer and his team as a No. 2 seed in his updated Bracketology on Tuesday. The Blue Devils started the season as one of the four top teams, but after a loss to the Kentucky Wildcats in their third game, Lunardi dropped them down to the No. 3 line.
Cooper Flagg and his teammates could force Lunardi into a major reset this coming week, however. Duke plays the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks, ESPN’s projected top overall seed, in Las Vegas, and some analytics sites think the Blue Devils have a better chance than it sounds on paper. A victory would assuredly move them back into one of the top four spots.
Lunardi’s latest hypothetical bracket put Duke in the West region with top-seeded Gonzaga and the Alabama Crimson Tide in the third slot. The Blue Devils would play Towson in round one with a second-round bout against either Texas Tech or Maryland on deck.
The North Carolina Tar Heels, one of four other ACC teams included in Lunardi’s bracket, ended up as a No. 4 seed in the South region.