It's almost that time of year again.
With 29 days until Selection Sunday, the NCAA Tournament committee announced its top 16 teams Saturday, unveiling seeds Nos. 1-4 in each region if the tournament began today. The committee, made up of athletic directors and conference commissioners, uses a host of metrics to determine the seeding.
Duke men's basketball earned a No. 1 seed in the East Region, the lone ACC representation in the top 16 teams. The Blue Devils — currently sitting at 21-3 and the third-ranked team in the country — have not been a No. 1 seed since 2019.
Joining head coach Jon Scheyer's team in this mock East Region bracket are Tennessee, Arizona and St. John's. The Blue Devils defeated the Wildcats 69-55 in November. Elsewhere, Auburn, Alabama and Florida round out the No. 1 seeds.
The Blue Devils will not face a team in the current AP Top 25 for the rest of the regular season, but have a date with Illinois — the third team out — in Madison Square Garden Feb. 22.
Head coach Kara Lawson's women's squad — the No. 13 team in the AP Poll — was given a No. 3 seed in the Spokane 1 Region. The Blue Devils were the 10th team ranked by the committee, and No. 1-seed UCLA, No. 2-seed LSU and No. 4-seed Tennessee are the other squads in the mock region. If Duke gets a top-four seed in March, it will host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke will take on projected No. 1-seed Notre Dame Monday at 6 p.m.
The official NCAA Tournament field will be released March 16.
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Ranjan Jindal is a Trinity junior and sports editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.