It's no surprise that Duke is a No. 1 seed in Joe Lunardi's latest Bracketology update for ESPN. That's the consensus for Jon Scheyer's Blue Devils in the preseason despite losing a National Player of the Year to the NBA Draft for the second offseason in a row.
But Scheyer has done what he always does and reloaded Duke's war chest with intriguing talent both from the high school ranks and the Transfer Portal. Duke landed the nation's No. 1 recruiting class again with a quartet of 5-star prospects and landed one of the top overall players in the Transfer Portal in Wisconsin's John Blackwell.
Blackwell represented a major portal victory for Scheyer that solidified Duke as one of the top teams in college basketball heading into next season. And it's Blackwell's addition that makes for the most compelling aspect of the path Lunardi set up for Duke in his projected NCAA Tournament field.
Joe Lunardi projects a potential Duke vs. Wisconsin 2nd Round March Madness matchup
Lunardi has Florida as the No. 1 overall seed and, perhaps surprisingly, has Michigan as the No. 2 1-seed. Duke is third, projected as the top overall seed in the South Region with a path to the Final Four running through San Antonio.
If Duke can navigate its way through the play-in winner of Bethune Cookman-Vermont, then the Blue Devils could find themselves with one of the most intriguing 2nd round matchups.
Lunardi has Wisconsin as the 9-seed in Duke's pod, with a projected 1st-round matchup against 8-seeded Auburn. If the Badgers could take care of business against the Tigers in this projection, it would set up the opportunity to face off against Blackwell in the Round of 32.
You can bet that prospect would excite Wisconsin fans, players, and coaches. There's always bad blood when a star player hits the portal and leaves the program he developed in. March Madness is all about storylines, and this would certainly be a good one.
Duke would obviously be a big favorite, but despite losing Blackwell and other key pieces, Greg Gard has done a nice job of retooling the Wisconsin roster to be a capable NCAA Tournament team again anyway.
The Badgers would have the extra motivation to try and make Blackwell's decision look silly, though of course Blackwell would have added motivation to stick it to his former team, too.
Lunardi placed some difficult landmines in front of Duke on its path back to the Final Four. If they took care of business against Wisconsin (or Auburn), it would lead to a likely matchup against either Kentucky or Houston in the Sweet 16. Michigan State or Alabama could be waiting in the Elite Eight.
There's a long time between now and next March, but Duke fans always have their eyes toward that part of the calendar. Scheyer has brought the Blue Devils plenty of regular-season success, but success in Durham is measured by National Championships, and that's the next step that Scheyer must take.
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