With a 29-3 record featuring a 7-3 mark in Quadrant 1 and zero losses to teams outside of the top 25 of the NET, Duke has already secured a No. 1 seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
That’s what Jerry Palm believes, at least.
And I agree.
So there’s no great reason for Cooper Flagg to play Friday against North Carolina in the ACC Tournament semifinals one day after spraining his left ankle in a win over Georgia Tech. A potential Flagg absence would be good for UNC and likely best for a Duke program with eyes on a bigger prize.
“It’s not about being ready to go [against North Carolina],” said Duke coach Jon Scheyer. “That’s not the most important thing for us. We’ve got to see if we can get him right for this run that we can make in the [NCAA Tournament].”
If you’re a Duke fan looking for positives, one is that the Blue Devils will likely open the NCAA Tournament in Raleigh, North Carolina, which is a Friday-Sunday site. That means Flagg will probably have seven full days in between the game in which he sprained his left ankle and the Blue Devils’ first game in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. If Flagg doesn’t heal quickly and needs more time, Scheyer could reasonably hold him out of a first-round matchup that Duke should cruise in with or without Flagg and turn those seven full days off into nine full days off.
Duke remains No. 2 in Friday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Auburn is No. 1 for the 65th consecutive day because of the strength of the Tigers’ 15-4 record in Quad 1. Auburn is the sport’s only team with more than 11 Quad-1 wins and four-or-fewer losses. That’s among the reasons the Tigers rank No. 1 in strength of record and likely would be the No. 1 overall seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament if the bracket were made this morning.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
2
Wisconsin
3
Texas A&M
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