The Blue Devils didn't achieve their presesason goal of getting the No. 1 seed in the ACC, but they might have secured a different No. 1 seed in the process - in the NCAA Tournament.
According to ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme, Duke is currently in position for the fourth No. 1 seed, behind Connecticut, Oklahoma and Maryland, and ahead of teams such as Auburn, Louisville, Stanford and Baylor.
"Duke is that fourth No. 1, simply because of the teams in contention," Creme said on a conference call Monday. "Duke has the best wins. They just flat out have the most top 25 wins and they have the best. They've beaten Maryland, they've beaten North Carolina, and they've beaten Stanford."
The victory over the Cardinal Dec. 17 might prove to be the most crucial as Stanford has the best chance of overtaking the Blue Devils for that fourth spot. If the Pac-10 regular season champion wins its conference tournament, and does so in impressive fashion, the Cardinal could have a case for the No. 1 seed.
"It's very close," Creme said. "It's been very difficult year right at the top. Usually by now everything is pretty clear in terms of the of no. 1 seeds.... Right now I would say the ACC would have two of the four."
If Duke were to be the last top seed, the Blue Devils wouldn't get the luxury of playing in the Raleigh regional. The undefeated Huskies would be sent to Boston, the Sooners would stay in Oklahoma City, and the Terrapins would get the next closest regional in Raleigh, meaning Duke would have to go all the way to Berkeley.
Should the selection committee give Stanford the top spot in Berkeley, if only for geographic reasons, things get more confusing for the Blue Devils.
As the best No. 2 seed, the committee could pair them with Stanford, but would likely avoid sending Duke cross-country. The next option would be Raleigh, but after receiving so much flak for pairing Big East powers Rutgers and Connecticut in the same regional last year, the committee might not put Duke and Maryland together.
That leaves being placed with either Oklahoma or Connecticut, both formidable opponents. In short, the Blue Devils want that No. 1 seed.
Creme also mentioned that the selection committee will try to minimize travel distance for teams, particularly with the current state of the economy. This could result in No. 1 seeds playing on the home court of No. 8 or No. 9 teams in the second round of the tournament. Creme didn't think this wouldn't affect the selection of the top four seeds, even if it comes down to a decision between Duke and Stanford.
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