Duke Takes No.1 Seed as Miami (Ohio) Gets 11‑Seed
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- Duke secured the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, joining Arizona, Michigan and Florida as top seeds.
- Miami (Ohio) earned an at‑large bid as an 11‑seed despite a 31‑1 record, and must win a First Four game against SMU to join the main bracket.
- Keith Gill, chair of the selection committee, said Miami ranked last among the 37 at‑large teams because of a low strength‑of‑schedule (339th) and no Quadrant 1 wins, but highlighted its second‑ranked scoring offense and strong “strength of record” and “wins above bubble” metrics.
- DraftKings listed Miami as an 8½‑point underdog to SMU and a 1,500‑1 longshot to win the championship, while Duke was the favorite at +300 odds.
- SEC led conference representation with ten teams in the 68‑team field, while the Big Ten had nine and the ACC and Big 12 each placed eight.
Why it matters: Miami’s inclusion validates that a near‑perfect record can overcome a weak schedule, giving the RedHawks a chance at the tournament and rewarding their high‑scoring offense, while teams with tougher schedules but fewer wins miss out, underscoring the committee’s metric‑driven trade‑offs.
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