The Duke Blue Devils needed six straight wins and some upsets around them to get back there, but as of Tuesday morning, they’ve reclaimed one of the four No. 1 seeds in Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology projections from ESPN.
Lunardi positioned [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates atop the West region, joining the Auburn Tigers, Tennessee Volunteers, and Iowa State Cyclones on the top line.
Flagg and the Blue Devils lost two of their first six games in 2024-25, but those defeats came to the Kentucky Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks, both currently No. 3 seeds in Lunardi’s bracket. Once fans consider Duke’s current six-game winning streak, including a home triumph over Auburn to give the Tigers their only loss of the year, it’s easy to see why the team from Durham’s resume is among the best in the nation.
The Blue Devils would face Marist in the opening round of Lunardi’s projected bracket with a second-round matchup against the Ole Miss Rebels or Texas Tech Red Raiders after that. The Florida Gators slid into the second spot in the West with Kentucky third and the UCLA Bruins at the No. 4 seed.
Only four other ACC teams made Lunardi’s tournament field: the Pittsburgh Panthers (No. 6 in the East), Clemson Tigers (No. 8 in the South), North Carolina Tar Heels (No. 10 in the South), and SMU Mustangs (First Four).