We've arrived at Selection Sunday 2025 and the Duke basketball program is riding high after its ACC Tournament Championship victory yesterday over Louisville, 73-62. The Blue Devils ended the regular season and conference tournament on an 11-game win streak and are riding high as the potential top seeded squad in this season's NCAA Tournament.
And after the Blue Devils' conference tournament championship win yesterday, there's no logical reason to not have Duke as the top overall seed in this year's big dance.
Auburn has been projected as the tournament's top seed for the majority of the season, and Duke along with the Tigers are widely seen in a tier of their own above all other clubs in college basketball.
However, why Duke absolutely has to earn the top overall seed at this point is because Auburn will not win the SEC Tournament, as it fell to Tennessee 70-65 in the SEC Tournament semifinals yesterday.
But interestingly, Joe Lunardi's Bracketology still has Auburn as the #1 overall seed, even after the Tigers' loss in the SEC semifinals and the Blue Devils' ACC Tournament championship. Lunardi updated his projections at 8:55pm ET last night, and the Tigers played Tennessee at 1:00pm ET yesterday.
It just doesn't add up to not have the Blue Devils as the top team in this year's big dance after Auburn didn't win its conference tournament. Sure, Duke plays in a weak ACC and Auburn is playing in the SEC, which might be the best single-season conference in the history of college basketball this year, but the Blue Devils have done everything right to prove they are the best team in college basketball, and should be rewarded for it.
On top of that, Duke won the ACC Tournament without freshman phenom Cooper Flagg, who went down in the team's 78-70 ACC Tournament quarterfinals win over Georgia Tech. Even without their best player, the Blue Devils took down a feisty UNC team in the semifinals and Louisville in the conference championship.
And if it comes down to it, Duke and Auburn have faced off this season, and Duke won. The Blue Devils beat the Tigers at Cameron Indoor earlier this season 84-78.
Today, Tennessee will play Florida for the SEC Tourmanent title, and the winner of that contest will have a convincing case to earn the NCAA Tournament's top overall seed, as both are currently top two seeds. The Gators are a projected 1-seed and the Vols are a projected 2-seed as of now.
If Florida wins today and earns the top spot in the big dance, that case is somewhat fair. The best team in the best conference. But, Duke has done everything possible to prove it deserves the top overall seed, and there's no way in the world Auburn should still be it over Jon Scheyer's program.
Catch the Selection Show at 6:00pm ET on CBS.