Jay Williams makes case for Duke as No. 1 overall seed over Auburn in NCAA Tournament

ESPN’s Jay Williams made his case for Duke to be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Fresh off an ACC title, also winning the regular season crown, Duke is sitting pretty.

As it stands, the Blue Devils should be a No. 1 seed somewhere in the tournament. But Williams asked the question if Duke should be above Auburn, the projected No. 1 overall seed.

Auburn fell to Tennessee in the SEC semifinals and have lost three of their last four games. So, Williams pounced on the opportunity.

“I know Auburn has 16 quad one wins, but should we be talking about Duke as a number one overall seed,” Williams said on College GameDay. “Or do they just get minimized? Or do they have a disadvantage because all they did was when their ACC regular season win their ACC Tournament Championship, they’re 19-1 in conference play … shouldn’t that be a real debate about whether Duke or Auburn is the number one seed?”

Jay Bilas wasn’t so sure about that. It seemed that he leaned towards Auburn, but in the end, as long as Duke got a number one seed in the tournament, they have a logical path to the finals. Rather than the two-seed of course.

“You can have a debate there,” Bilas said. “I’m not sure the number one overall seed matters as much as just being a number one seed. The number one overall seed gets to choose where they go. That’s something but, in my view, there’s a big dividing line. 

“A one seed is so much better than being a two. It’s so much better. I mean, you look at all the numbers, one seeds perform better, one because they are better, but they perform. That’s a big difference. And getting a one, I think the decision between one and two, it’s more important the decision between one and 1A.”

Duke’s chances in the NCAA Tournament could come down to Cooper Flagg’s health. He’s expected to play in March Madness, but his status is still up in the air for the first round.

“Look, I mean, for me, it’s Cooper,” head coach Jon Scheyer said of Flagg’s skill among players nationwide. “That’s not knocking anybody — I mean, we played [Auburn star Johni] Broome, he’s a great player — but Cooper, the way he impacts every aspect of the game, I don’t think we’ve seen in college for a long time.

“He impacts it in every way, and tonight’s a good example… But again, that’s not what Cooper plays for. That’s not what we play for. But obviously, recognition you always appreciate and is good. But we’ll keep control of what we can. That’s the best we can do.”