Duke's dominant win reshapes March Madness projections. ESPN reveals the Blue Devils are now poised for the coveted No. 1 overall seed.
Duke basketball was the big winner from the weekend.
The Blue Devils padded their resume with a 68-63 win over then-No. 1 Michigan in front of 20,537 fans at Capital One Arena.
The win will give Duke confidence going into the NCAA Tournament.
It also changed the rankings and how the Blue Devils might be seeded in March.
The Wolverines fell to No. 3. Not a big drop-off for Michigan, still in good position to earn a No. 1 seed.
Duke climbed to No. 1 with 56 first-place votes.
Per Joe Lunardi of ESPN, Duke's rise to the top was thought of as inevitable. It's likely the Blue Devils will clinch the No. 1 overall seed for the "Big Dance" next month.
"There was always a certain inevitability to Duke's rise to the No. 1 overall seed," he wrote. "Simply stated: The many worthy candidates for that top spot -- Michigan, Arizona, even UConn -- each had (and still have) more opportunities to lose.
"Even if the Blue Devils hadn't beaten the Wolverines over the weekend, Michigan still has to visit Illinois and Iowa, as well as host Michigan State. The other contenders are also more likely than Duke to lose in their conference tournaments."
Duke has a relatively easy contest coming up against a 12-15 Notre Dame team on Tuesday. However, the Blue Devils will face a challenge at home from No. 11 Virginia on Saturday, NC State on Monday, and No. 18 North Carolina on March 7.
Still, Lunardi thinks Duke will prevail to earn the top seed.
"It's clear the Blue Devils control their destiny with respect to bracket placement and seeding, which means we can probably brace for that navy blue "D" at the top of the selection show on March 15," he wrote.
Duke is 25-2 overall and 13-1 in ACC play. Its only loss in the conference game was to the Tar Heels on the road.
With that being said, the Blue Devils can't overlook Virginia on Saturday. That's a crucial game for Duke given that a win would give the team some wiggle room if North Carolina pulls off another upset.