Duke Stays in Control in Fresh Bracket Projections

The No. 1-ranked Duke Blue Devils (28-2, 16-1 ACC) control their own destiny from here on out, heading into the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Over the last few days, the Blue Devils have clinched the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament as well as the outright ACC regular season title.

Duke took down No. 13 Virginia (25-4, 13-3 ACC) at Cameron Indoor Stadium 77-51 on Saturday, then followed that up with a 93-64 win on the road over NC State (19-11, 10-7 ACC) on Monday. The Blue Devils have now won their last seven games by an average margin of 23.4 points.

Feb 24, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer claps against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the second half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

It's hard at this point of the regular season to definitively crown a "best" team in college basketball, but Duke is as dominant and complete a squad as it gets. The Blue Devils are currently the No. 1 team in the Associated Press Top 25 as well as the top team in both the NCAA NET Rankings and at KenPom.

As the NET Rankings currently stand, Duke is 13-2 in Quadrant 1 games, 19-2 across the first two quadrants, 14-0 at home, and 10-1 on the road. It is also 10-2 in games against ranked opponents, owning more ranked victories than any other team in the sport.

Mar 2, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Cameron Boozer (12) pass the ball around NC State Wolfpack guard Matt Able (3) during the first half at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

Duke Still Top Overall Seed in Latest ESPN Bracketology

As expected, the Blue Devils are still the top overall projected seed according to ESPN's latest Bracketology update. The four 1-seeds have remained the same for several weeks now, with Michigan, Arizona, and UConn joining Duke.

With how the Blue Devils have run through the rest of the ACC, it's growing increasingly difficult to see another team in the conference taking them down in the ACC Tournament. Duke has one more regular-season contest left, against No. 17 North Carolina (23-6, 11-5 ACC) at Cameron this Saturday, but it has already inked the top seed in the conference tournament.

ACC Remains Relevant in Latest Bracket Projections

The ACC as a whole still has eight projected teams in the field, which doubles the four it had in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. At this point of the season, it's clear that there is no team in the ACC nearly on the same level as Duke, but the conference as a whole is in a much better place than it has been in recent years.

The other ACC schools in the projected field, other than the Blue Devils, include: Virginia (4-seed), Louisville (6-seed), North Carolina (6-seed), Miami (8-seed), Clemson (8-seed), NC State (9-seed), and SMU (10-seed).

Feb 16, 2026; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Cayden Boozer (2) reacts during the second half against the Syracuse Orange at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

Only the Big Ten and SEC boast more projected tournament teams, each with 10.

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