Duke, UNC Learn Their Seeding And 1st-Round Opponents In NCAA Tournament

The Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels are set for the first round of the NCAA Tournament after Selection Sunday, and now they know who stands in their way of a championship run in the round of 64.

Fresh off a 32-2 season and ACC championship, the Blue Devils controlled the conference from start to finish. Headlined by freshman forward Cameron Boozer and sophomore guard Isaiah Evans, Duke stands as one of the most productive and efficient teams in the country, which landed them first in the final AP Poll and in the No. 1 seed in the east bracket.

Duke will face the 16-seeded Siena Saints out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). Stat-for-stat, Siena may measure up to Duke on paper, especially on the defensive end in terms of rebounding and shot-blocking. But the No. 1 team in the nation is a whole different beast, and like most 1-vs-16 matchups, this is a classic David vs. Goliath kind of battle. Expect the Blue Devils, a -20000 favorite, to cruise to the round of 32 with relative ease.

UNC, meanwhile, landed as the No. 6 seed in the south bracket after a 24-8 season and a loss to Clemson in the ACC quarterfinals. They get a decidedly tougher opening matchup than Duke in the 11-seeded VCU Rams, who enter the tournament having won the Atlantic 10 conference championship for the second straight year. VCU is going to be on upset watch as they take the court against the Tar Heels with wins in 16 of their last 17 games.

Duke and UNC both enter the tournament as fierce rivals, but in different spots as far as their status this particular season. Many people will have the Blue Devils as the last team standing in their brackets, while the Tar Heels are more like a dark horse to get to even the Elite Eight. But if UNC makes a suprise run to the Final Four, they'd have a good chance to clash with Duke in only the latest iteration of the most historic rivalry in college basketball.