NCAA Tournament Bracket Preview: Committee puts Duke as top overall seed; Tennessee, Virginia, Gonzaga also No. 1s

There were a few surprises when the NCAA's selection committee revealed their early top 16 seeds

By Kyle Boone

Feb 9, 2019 at 12:50 pm ET • 1 min read

Duke is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA selection committee's evaluation at this point in the season. The committee chair, Bernard Muir, revealed as much on Saturday morning's third annual Bracket Preview Show -- a midseason look at the top 16 seeds as they currently stand with just over a month left in the season. Tennessee, Virginia and Gonzaga are also No. 1 seeds in their respective regions.

Muir said that Duke and Tennessee were "1A and 1B" in terms of their overall resumes as they evaluated who was worthy of the No. 1 overall seed, but Duke got the slight nod because "strength of schedule won out."

Standing at No. 2 seeds across every region is Kentucky (Midwest), Michigan (East), North Carolina (South) and Michigan State (West). Kentucky is the top No. 2 seed, but in this instance, is sent to the Midwest for two reasons. The first: Tennessee, the second overall team in the NCAA selection committee's estimation, was slotted for the South. And the second reason is because the top No. 2 seed (UK) can't be put in the same region as the top No. 1 seed (Duke), which is why the East isn't an option.

The top No. 3 seed overall is Purdue, which was slotted in the South region with Tennessee, North Carolina and Nevada. The top No. 4 seed is Iowa State, which is slotted in the East with Duke, Michigan and Marquette.

There is still more than a month of games left to play before Selection Sunday's ultimate reveal on March 17, but for now, here is where they stand.