Duke basketball earned a No. 1 seed for the 2025 men’s NCAA Tournament and will face No. 16 American (22-12) or No. 16 Mount St Mary’s (22-12) on Friday in Raleigh as part of the East Region. The game will be televised on CBS/TNT/TBS/truTV.

Those two teams will be a part of the First Four in Dayton.

Coming off a sweep of the ACC championships, the top-ranked Blue Devils (31-3) enter March Madness as a top seed for the 15th time in program history. It’s their 47th NCAA Tournament appearance.

Duke has a 54-10 record as a No. 1 seed, winning 84.4% of its NCAA Tournament games in those scenarios. The Blue Devils won four of their five national championships as a top seed under former coach Mike Krzyzewski, but they haven’t carried a No. 1 seed into the postseason since 2019.

Buy Duke NCAA Tournament tickets

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

In March Madness last season, the Blue Devils advanced to the Elite Eight before being bounced by rival N.C. State. With 10 newcomers, third-year head coach Jon Scheyer has his most talented roster since taking over in Durham. 

Cooper Flagg, who missed two games in the ACC Tournament with an ankle injury, leads the way as the ACC Player of the Year and projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. 

SURVIVOR POOL: Free to enter. $2,500 to win. Can you survive the madness?

Fellow freshmen Kon Knueppel – the ACC Tournament MVP – and Khaman Maluach, along with veteran guards Sion James and Tyrese Proctor, make up Duke’s most-used starting lineup.

Duke or the No. 16 seed will face No. 8 Mississippi State (21-12) or No. 9 Baylor (19-14) in the second round at the Lenovo Center.

Rodd Baxley covers Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding those teams? Send them to[email protected].