Duke basketball is riding high heading into Selection Sunday tonight after its ACC Tournament championship victory yesterday. The Blue Devils took down Louisville 73-62 to win the conference title after winning its regular season title as well.
Freshman superstar Cooper Flagg, Duke's ring leader, missed the majority of the ACC Tournament after sustaining an ankle injury during the Blue Devils' 78-70 quarterfinals win over Georgia Tech.
Originally, it was unsure of the severity of the injury and there was some worry that Flagg would be out of the rest of the season. Luckily, it was reported that Flagg will return for the NCAA Tournament.
Flagg did sit out of the rest of the ACC Tournament after sustaining the injury, as Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said it was "not worth it" to play the rookie sensation before the NCAA Tournament, given the program's national title aspirations.
It's also been reported that Flagg's injury will not affect Duke's seeding in the NCAA Tournament as the freshman is gearing up to play in the big dance. NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt gave an update on Flagg and Duke's seeding situation as a whole on CBS Sports Network yesterday.
"We understand from communication with Duke and the ACC that Cooper Flagg will be available for the NCAA Tournament, so don't expect that to impact their seeding," Gavitt said.
The Blue Devils will assuredly be on the 1-seed line and have a great chance to earn the tournament's #1 overall seed after Duke won the ACC Tournament and Auburn, which has been projected as the tournament's top overall seed for most of the season, fell 70-65 to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament semifinals yesterday.
And with Flagg back in the rotation, it gives the committee that much more of a reason to put the Blue Devils at the top spot. Duke has won its last 11 games , went 31-3 overall through the ACC Tournament, and only suffered one ACC loss to Clemson on the road.
Duke is one of five teams in the nation to finish the season with 30 or more wins and hasn't lost a game outside of Quadrant 1. The program's other two losses were on neutral courts to Kansas and Kentucky.
The one knock on the Blue Devils' resume is the slight lack of Quad 1 wins, stemming from the lack of Quad 1 opportunities as Duke plays in a very weak ACC. Duke finished the season 8-3 in Quad 1 and 22-0 across Quadrants 2 through 4.
Regardless, the Blue Devils have done everything necessary to prove they are the one of the top teams in the nation and should be awarded the #1 overall seed tonight.
The Selection Show will start at 6:00pm ET on CBS.