Santa Fe New Mexican

Duke, not Vols, top seed in initial NCAA rankings

-

Tennessee has been ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll the past three weeks, has one loss this season and owns Division I’s longest winning streak.

It wasn’t enough for the NCAA Division I Basketball Committee to give the Volunteers the top overall seed in its initial rankings.

The committee revealed its preliminar­y rankings Saturday and it was Duke, not the Vols, earning the No. 1 overall seed.

The Blue Devils were No. 1 in the East Region and the Vols topped the South, with Virginia in the Midwest and Gonzaga out West earning the other No. 1 seeds.

“They are heading to the East by the slightest of margins,” committee chairman and Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir said. “There was a very close conversati­on between the No. 1 seed and the No. 2 seed, but the strength of schedule won out in Duke’s case.”

Duke was slated to play in Washington, D.C., in an East Region that includes Michigan, Marquette and Iowa State.

Tennessee tops a South Region in Louisville with North Carolina, Purdue and Nevada.

Virginia led a Midwest Region in Kansas City that also includes Kentucky, Houston and Wisconsin. The West Region in Anaheim, California, had Michigan State, Kansas and Louisville with the Zags.

The initial rankings offered a preview of the committee’s thoughts five before Selection Sunday on March 17.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States