Selection committee chairman debates Auburn, Duke as potential No. 1 overall seed in NCAA Tournament

Bubba Cunningham scooted around a question of Duke or Auburn as the top team in college basketball right now. Just a few days from Selection Sunday, the two schools are likely the top two teams in the country and one of them will be the top team in the NCAA Tournament.

Barring anything unforeseen, Duke and Auburn have very similar resumes and could very well be conference tournament champions by Sunday. So, Cunningham used an interesting analogy when asked how he’d determine the top team.

A call back to his grandmother was the answer. So if you prefer blue or orange, you might have your answer for the top team in college basketball.

“All of it matters,” Cunningham said on a media call Wednesday. “It actually reminds me a little bit of a just a stupid story. But one time I asked my grandmother, so what’s your favorite color? And she said, plaid. And so you know those things, you know both of those things matter. So I, you know, I can’t distinguish one over the other, but it’s a tough thing. And ironically or fortunately or whatever, I have been able to see both those teams play in person myself. And so I’ve seen them up close more than I want to.”

We’ll have to let the results on the floor speak for themselves to make the determination. So strap in for the conference tournaments.

Duke and Auburn debates don’t stop at the team overall. Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer weighed in on the National Player of the Year debate between Cooper Flagg and Johni Broome.

“Look, I mean, for me, it’s Cooper,” Scheyer said after Duke’s 82-69 win over North Carolina on Saturday. ““That’s not knocking anybody — I mean, we played 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.”

Duke is the No. 1 seed in the ACC as is Auburn in the SEC. Duke opens up Thursday against Georgia Tech or Virginia while Auburn plays Friday against Ole Miss, Arkansas or South Carolina.