The Duke Blue Devils haven’t lost in more than a month, and ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi thinks it’s time to treat them like one of the four best teams in basketball once again.
Lunardi shared an updated look at his top 16 overall teams on Saturday, and the Blue Devils moved up to his top line as the third overall seed in the field. Duke joined the Auburn Tigers, Tennessee Volunteers, and Iowa State Cyclones as his four current No. 1 seeds.
[autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and the Blue Devils handed Auburn their only loss of the season at the start of the month, an 84-78 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium powered by 22 points and 11 rebounds from the freshman phenom. Duke’s two losses came within the first six games to the Kentucky Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks, two teams within the top 10 overall seeds on Lunardi’s current board.
The win over Auburn gives Duke a great inside track for its own region in March. No other ACC team currently sits within the top 24 of the KenPom rankings, so the Blue Devils look like strong favorites in the conference with a chance at 17 or 18 ACC wins.
Meanwhile, Auburn and Tennessee must survive in an SEC that includes six of KenPom’s top 20 teams, including an undefeated Florida Gators squad and reigning Final Four participant Alabama Crimson Tide.