Loss to NC State Shakes Up Duke's Bracket Projections
Duke was blown out at NC State on Wednesday, which sent the bracketology projections for the Blue Devils spinning in various directions.
Last week, things were simple: Just about everyone agreed Duke would be the 2-seed in the East, behind San Diego State, opening in Greensboro.
Here’s a look at the latest projections:
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi: Duke is still a 2-seed and still opening in Greensboro. Lunardi has moved the Blue Devils from the East (and New York) to the Midwest. That means, assuming they advance, the Blue Devils would head to Indianapolis for the second weekend and need to get through No. 1 Kansas to advance to the Final Four.
Duke opens with Montana in Lunardi’s bracket, then faces the winner of No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 10 Oklahoma. No. 3 Kentucky, No. 6 Butler, No. 4 Penn State and No. 5 Oregon are also in the bracket.
CBSSports.com’s Jerry Palm: Duke remains in the East, behind No. 1 San Diego State and still opens in Greensboro, but Palm dropped the Blue Devils a seeding line, to No. 3.
Duke would open with No. 14 Little Rock, then get No. 6 Arizona or No. 11 Rhode Island. Maryland is the No. 2, followed by No. 4 Auburn and No. 5 Oregon.
USA Today: Duke gets the Lunardi treatment from USA Today. The Blue Devils are now the No. 2 in the Midwest, opening in Greensboro then heading to Indy to try to advance past No. 1 Kansas.
Duke opens with No. 15 Montana then gets No. 7 LSU or No. 10 Northern Iowa.
The rest of the bracket includes No. 3 Creighton, No. 6 Iowa, No. 4 West Virginia and No. 5 Michigan State.
Real Time RPI: Everyone’s favorite renegade bracketologist is again on an island. This projection has Duke as the No. 2 in the Midwest region, behind top seed Maryland and opening in Detroit … which is not schedule to host any NCAA games this year.
Duke would open with No. 15 UC Irvine, then get No. 7 Iowa or No. 10 Wichita State. The rest of the region includes No. 3 Louisville, No. 5 Villanova, No. 5 San Diego State and No. 6 USC.
SB Nation, Facts and Bracks and NCAA.com’s Andy Katz have not updated their projections since Duke’s loss.
