NCAA Basketball: Preseason picks to be No. 1 seeds in 2024 NCAA Tournament

Duke Blue Devils

2022-23: 27-9 (14-6 in ACC), NCAA Tournament: 2nd Round

Jon Scheyer begins his second season in the head chair at Duke and may have the most talented roster in the country. Despite losing Dereck Lively and Dariq Whitehead, the Blue Devils bring back four players who averaged over 17 minutes per game last season, including All-American candidate Kyle Filipowski, forward Mark Mitchell, and guards Tyrese Proctor and senior leader Jeremy Roach.

As if bringing back that amount of production wasn’t enough, Scheyer brought in the No. 2 recruiting class in the country according to 247Sports. All four freshmen come with a top-25 ranking attached and should see minutes in their first season. Jared McCain is a dynamic shooting guard who has the ability to get to the rim and finish while fellow guard Caleb Foster is more of a facilitator. The Forwards, TJ Power, and Sean Stewart bring something different to the roster. Power is the more versatile of the two and Stewart is more the big-bodied banger type.

The Blue Devils have the roster and the talent to find themselves on the top seed line in March. But they also have a schedule that lends itself to that ceiling as well. In their second game of the year, they host the Arizona Wildcats in a true road game for the Wildcats at Cameroon Indoor. Four days later they take on another national title contender, Michigan State in the Champions Classic.

At the end of the opening month, they have a good test traveling to Fayetteville to take on Arkansas in the ACC/SEC Challenge. Finally, the Blue Devils get ready for the holiday season by having another top-25 matchup, this one with the Baylor Bears at Madison Square Garden. If Duke proves themselves to be the best team in the ACC, it would be a disappointment if they were anything other than a No. 1 seed.