Virginia Tech beat Duke 77-72 Tuesday to hand the Blue Devils their fourth loss of the season. Duke, of course, is still playing without Zion Williamson, the presumed national player of the year. The Hokies are shorthanded also though. Justin Robinson, who is arguably Virginia Tech's best player, has been out for around a month.
Duke is still a No. 1 seed after the loss, but no longer the overall No. 1. That honor now goes to Virginia. The Cavaliers have lost only to Duke, but have done so twice. Gonzaga, the only team to beat Duke at full strength, is now No. 2 overall because of the Bulldogs strength of schedule and losses to Tennessee and North Carolina. The Blue Devils slot into the third spot, ahead of Kentucky.
Duke has lost three of its four games without at least one starter available to them, and that gets some consideration, but losses are still losses. They are not ignored as if the game wasn't played, and there is absolutely no assumption that the games would have been won if Duke had been at full strength.
Bracketology No. 1 seeds
[Check out Palm's full bracket with all 68 seeds and the first four four teams out on our Bracketology page]
