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Duke Basketball: Blue Devils will be No. 1 overall seed with ACC Title

By Kevin Connelly

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 09: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils watches on from the bench during their game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Dean Smith Center on March 09, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 09: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils watches on from the bench during their game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Dean Smith Center on March 09, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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After limping to the finish line in the regular season, the Duke Basketball team still has a chance to be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

After being the consensus No. 1 team in the country and the consensus No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament, the Blue Devils struggled down the stretch once the ACC Player of the Year, Zion Williamson went down with an injury.

Since his injury on February 20, the Blue Devils have slid down the ladder of No. 1 seeds and in ESPN’s latest Bracketology Duke is a No. 2 seed.

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While there was clearly still a path for Duke to become a No. 1 seed once again with a great performance at the ACC Tournament this week, the door was busted open for the No. 1 overall seed after Gonzaga Bulldogs fell to the St. Mary’s Gaels on Tuesday night.

While Gonzaga wasn’t the No. 1 overall seed in many of the projected brackets, if the Bulldogs went on to win the West Coast Conference Championship and even if Duke won the ACC Title, knocking Virginia out of the No. 1 overall seed position, Gonzaga would have entered as the No. 1 overall seed.

With Gonzaga’s loss, the probability is high that which ever team wins the ACC Tournament on Saturday night will be the new No. 1 overall seed when the bracket is officially released on Sunday evening.

The Blue Devils will have its first game in Charlotte, most likely with Zion Williamson, on Thursday night against the winner of the Pittsburgh and Syracuse game on Wednesday.

With a win, Duke would most likely play the North Carolina Tar Heels, who are currently projected as a No. 1 seed.

The winner of that game, if it happens, will definitely receive a No. 1 seed, regardless of the outcome in the Championship Game on Saturday night.

Should the Blue Devils advance to the championship, the most likely team awaiting Duke would be the Virginia Cavaliers.

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Duke has already defeated Virginia twice this season and if the Blue Devils can do it again a third time, in addition to winning an ACC Championship despite still not being healthy since Marques Bolden will be out with an MCL sprain, there should be no doubt who the No. 1 overall seed should be.

While there is still a lot of work to be done and nothing in a guarantee in March, there is a clear path to the No. 1 overall seed for the Duke Blue Devils.

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