The Duke Blue Devils lifted their resume from good to great last week with a home victory over the undefeated Auburn Tigers, but ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi still needs a little more for the storied program to snatch back one of his four No. 1 seeds.
Lunardi released his updated bracket on Tuesday morning, and the Blue Devils occupied the No. 2 spot in the South region. The Tigers kept their grip on his top overall seed, also slated for the South, while the Tennessee Volunteers, Marquette Golden Eagles, and Iowa State Cyclones led the other three corners of the bracket.
None of those four teams have multiple losses like the Blue Devils, and two Kansas losses dropping the Jayhawks down to a No. 3 seed doesn’t help the argument. However, Marquette has only played one team within the top 12 of the KenPom efficiency rankings, and that resulted in a road loss to the Cyclones. Duke has played three teams in the top 11, including its Auburn win.
Lunardi paired Duke with the Little Rock Trojans for the first round, and should the Blue Devils avoid that upset, they’d play the winner of St. John’s and Texas Tech in the next game.
If the Cameron Crazies want a little good news, two major Duke rivals continue to fall in Lunardi’s eyes. The North Carolina Tar Heels have tumbled down to a No. 8 seed (interestingly enough, also in the South region) thanks to four early losses, and Caleb Love’s Arizona Wildcats are now the First Team Out after a 4-4 start.