The No. 1 overall seed certainly comes with some advantages. Duke will get to stay close to home in the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, playing in nearby Greenville. It also got its preferred Region in the East, with Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games taking place in Washington, D.C.
But the selection committee didn't do Duke any additional favors. In fact, it seems pretty obvious to everyone that the Blue Devils got the roughest draw of any of the top seeds in the Big Dance.
Even former North Carolina players are saying it.
Former UNC star forward Justin Jackson joined Jeff Goodman and the Field of 68 crew to discuss the bracket on Sunday night, and he stated he believed Duke got "screwed over" by the selection committee:
"Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils got screwed over" - @JJacks_44 https://t.co/xplQvkhSVn
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 16, 2026
Duke has an unbelivably tough path to the Final Four
It would take a monumental upset to keep Jon Scheyer's Blue Devils out of the second weekend, but either Ohio State or TCU could cause some problems in the Round of 32. Neither will be pushovers, and both played brutal schedules in tough conferences and will not be intimidated to share the court with a team of Duke's quality.
Assuming Duke advances to D.C., that's when things get hairier. From there, Duke is likely to face either 4-seeded Kansas, led by star guard Darryn Peterson and two-time national championship-winning head coach Bill Self, or a red-hot 5-seeded St. John's, fresh off winning the Big East Tournament and led by two-time national championship-winning head coach Rick Pitino.
If Duke can navigate to the Elite Eight, standing in its way of a second straight trip to the Final Four is likely to be either 2-seeded UConn, led by two-time national championship-winning head coach Dan Hurley, or 3-seeded Michigan State, led by national championship-winning head coach Tom Izzo, who happens to be one of the best tournament coaches in college basketball history.
If Duke is going to make it back to the Final Four, it's going to have to earn it. And it'll have to do it without starting point guard Caleb Foster.