March Madness 2019 Bracket: Duke, North Carolina, Virginia Could All Be No.1 Seeds In NCAA Tournament

Zion Williamson Duke Syracuse — Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils dunks the ball against the Syracuse Orange during their game in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 14, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Duke and North Carolina will meet Friday night in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. Both teams will be among the favorites in March Madness, and their upcoming matchup could help the conference get three No.1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

With just two days left until Selection Sunday, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Virginia and Gonzaga both locked into No.1 seeds in the field of 68. That leaves two more top seeds up for grabs, and both the Blue Devils and Tar Heels are in heavy consideration for those spots.

As the No.3 team in the country that already has two wins over Duke, North Carolina might guarantee themselves a No.1 seed with a win over the Blue Devils Friday. Both of Duke’s losses to their chief rival came when Zion Williamson was hurt.

Now that Williamson is back and seemingly better than ever, an ACC title run could certainly earn Duke a No.1 seed. Duke is ranked fifth overall, and after Williamson scored 29 points on 13-13 shooting, they have a 23-2 record when the freshman phenom is healthy.

This will be the first ACC Tournament in history with three teams ranked in the AP Top 5 in the semifinals (No. 2 Virginia, No. 3 North Carolina, No. 5 Duke).
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 15, 2019

The winner of UNC-Duke will face the winner of Friday’s contest between Virginia and Florida State in Saturday’s ACC Championship game.

Duke beat Virginia earlier this season when Williamson scored 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds. He scored 28 points on 11-13 shooting in his college basketball debut when the Blue Devils blew out Kentucky 118-84.

Kentucky is ranked fourth in the country and the team that both Duke and North Carolina are hoping to bump from the top-line of the NCAA Tournament bracket. The Wildcats will play Alabama Friday night in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.

Tennessee will take on Mississippi State Friday night in the SEC quarterfinals. They are the No.8 team in the nation, but they’ve got a chance to earn a top seed in March Madness by defeating Kentucky en route to winning a conference championship.

Kentucky and Tennessee split their regular-season meetings.

If Kentucky and Tennessee fail to win the SEC Tournament, Duke and North Carolina could both be on their way to No.1 seeds.

ESPN+