The ACC dominated the final AP Top 25 Poll ahead of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, with Duke, Virginia and North Carolina -- all teams that clinched No. 1 seeds on Selection Sunday -- sitting atop the fresh rankings released on Monday. Duke jumped four spots from No. 5 to No. 1 thanks to a perfect week at the ACC Tournament in which it knocked out Syracuse, North Carolina and Florida State en route to winning the championship with a healthy Zion Williamson. The Blue Devils garnered 58 of a possible 64 first-place votes. Virginia received five first-place votes while North Carolina received none. Gonzaga, which sat atop the rankings for four weeks, garnered one first-place vote despite falling to Saint Mary's in the WCC Tournament this week. AP Top 25 poll Others receiving votes: Marquette 63, Maryland 55, Mississippi State 35, Murray State 12, New Mexico State 11, UCF 9, Louisville 8, VCU 4, Seton Hall 3, Old Dominion 2, Liberty 1<doc-sep>The 2019 NCAA tournament bracket is officially out, so we can all spend the next three or four days poring over matchups, choosing upsets and making picks for Minneapolis. But before we get there, let's finish digesting the bracket with one last look at the NCAA tournament field. Who were the winners and losers from Selection Sunday? Tournament Challenge 2019 How's your bracket? Check out Tournament Challenge for live updates with a chance to win $10,000 in Amazon.com gift cards and a trip for two to the 2019 Maui Jim Maui Invitational! WINNERS The ACC For the first time since 2009, one conference received three 1-seeds to the NCAA tournament. Not only did Duke, Virginia and North Carolina all get placed on a region's top line, they were also the top three teams in the field. The signs were there that this might happen once Gonzaga lost in the WCC title game and neither Kentucky nor Tennessee won the SEC tournament title. Duke was a winner Sunday. Did UNC also win by getting sent to the Kansas City Regional (where Kansas looms)? Streeter Lecka/Getty Images Duke secured its spot atop the bracket after Zion Williamson returned and the Blue Devils won the ACC tournament. Virginia was a lock 1-seed entering Champ Week, and North Carolina owned two wins over Duke and a victory over Gonzaga. The ACC wasn't the best conference in the country, but it had the three best teams in the country -- and it could have multiple Final Four teams in a few weeks. Markus Howard vs. Ja Morant I don't know if there's a true winner for this one, but it counts because we, as a society, are winners. Marquette's Howard and Murray State's Morant are two of the most exciting players in college basketball, with both players capable of going for 40-plus points on a given night. They go about it in different ways. Howard looks to get hot from 3-point range and can fire in a barrage of deep, contested jumpers. Morant is a freak athlete who gets into the lane and either scores on his own or finds a teammate. He was one of the nation's top scorers and led the country in assists. It's unclear whether Howard will actually guard Morant, but this will be arguably the most entertaining individual matchup of the first round. St. John's The Red Storm was the last team in the field, according to the committee. Chris Mullin's team overcame a horrible NET ranking, poor efficiency metrics and a below-average nonconference schedule to get a bid. For the Red Storm, it likely came down to the fact that they beat Marquette twice and knocked off Villanova once. This was once a team expected to be a lock come Selection Sunday, but it lost four of five down the stretch, including a 32-point pummeling by Marquette in the Big East tournament. It's now a clean slate for St. John's, though, and the team has the talent to win a game or two. Belmont Most of the bubble talk over the past several days surrounded the quartet of quality mid-majors that were bounced from their conference tournaments: Belmont, UNC Greensboro, Lipscomb and Furman. We'll get to UNCG in a bit, but Belmont ended up making the field -- and one has to wonder whether the Bruins' missing starting center Nick Muszynski for the Ohio Valley title game played a factor. Belmont's best wins came over Lipscomb (twice) and Murray State, but the Bruins lost just five games all season and tested themselves in nonconference play. Rick Byrd's team may be in Dayton for the First Four, but at least it's dancing. (For the record, Joe Lunardi had Belmont out and TCU in for the lone miss in this season's version of ESPN Bracketology.) Fran Dunphy In his final season as head coach at Temple, Dunphy and the Owls are going to the NCAA tournament. Temple's losing to Wichita State in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament left the Owls sweating on Selection Sunday, but wins over Houston and UCF were enough to get them to Dayton to face Belmont. Heck of a way to go out after 13 seasons on North Broad Street in Philadelphia. Pitino connection This is something of an honorable mention, but Minnesota's Richard Pitino facing Louisville -- the school that fired his father less than 18 months ago -- is a noteworthy thing to watch. The committee can say it doesn't pay attention to potential storylines when making first-round pairings, but I'm going to call its bluff on this one. LOSERS UNC Greensboro According to the committee, UNCG was the first team left out of the field -- getting bumped after Oregon won the Pac-12 title game over Washington on Saturday night. That's a heartbreaker for coach Wes Miller and the Spartans, who lost just six games all season. Those six losses came against Wofford (three times), Kentucky, LSU and at Furman. They didn't have a single loss outside Quadrant 1. For housekeeping purposes, the next three teams out of the field were Alabama, TCU and Indiana. Conference tournaments The bracket as a whole read a lot like a bracket that would have come out on Friday afternoon. Power-conference champions Villanova (6), Iowa State (6), Auburn (5) and Cincinnati (7) didn't seem to benefit much from their runs. Runners-up Florida State (4) and Seton Hall (10) essentially received the seeds they were expected to get going into the conference tournament. Meanwhile, VCU (8) lost in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament and did not seem to get penalized. Marquette (5) lost for the fifth time in six games and was seeded higher than Villanova, which won both the regular-season and conference tournaments. And Michigan State won the Big Ten conference tournament -- and regular season -- and was seeded as the 2-seed in overall top seed Duke's region. The Spartans completed a three-game sweep of Michigan, but the Wolverines -- also a 2-seed, but in Gonzaga's region -- arguably received an easier draw. Top three seeds in the Midwest North Carolina was probably thrilled to get a 1-seed ... until it saw Kansas as the 4-seed in its region. Not that the Jayhawks didn't deserve a 4-seed or are going to be favored over the Tar Heels, but if the two teams face each other in the Sweet 16, it will take place in Kansas City, less than an hour from Kansas' campus. The Jayhawks have been poor on the road this season, but this is about as close to a home game as Bill Self can get in the NCAA tournament. The other top-three seeds in this region, Kentucky and Houston, won't be happy if they have to play the Jayhawks in the Elite Eight. And as for the Tar Heels, this might be the cost of that loss to Duke in the ACC semifinals. Tennessee Along those same lines, if Tennessee and Cincinnati win their first-round games, the Volunteers will likely be unhappy to face the Bearcats in Columbus, Ohio. That won't be fun for Rick Barnes' team. Dreadful nonconference schedules We're looking at you, NC State. The committee made a clear statement about the Wolfpack's nonconference schedule, not even including them among the first four teams left out of the field. NC State had the No. 353-ranked nonconference strength of schedule, last in the country. The Wolfpack looked like they would overcome the poor non-league slate earlier in the season, but combine it with a lack of impressive wins and a 9-9 ACC record, and Kevin Keatts' team was left out. This isn't a first for the committee. Time and time again, it has sent messages by leaving out teams that played weak nonconference schedules. Despite NC State's impressive NET -- it was the highest-ranked team in the NET not to make the field -- it did not hear its name called on Selection Sunday. Expanded conference schedules Power conferences are playing more games than ever nowadays, and it might have cost them some bids on Selection Sunday.<doc-sep>The NCAA Tournament field of 68 is complete as March Madness is now in full effect. For the Kentucky Wildcats, a solid 27-6 season coming into the Big Dance has them in position to make their fifth Final Four under John Calipari. Sure, Kentucky failed to get a 1 seed or play in Louisville, but they still got about as good of a draw as one can ask for, especially when you realize they were a mere Michigan State loss away from ending up in D.C. with the Duke Blue Devils. The Wildcats ended up finishing as the No. 7 overall team in the Selection Committee’s seed rankings. As you can imagine, that’s right around where they finished in the new top 25 polls and power rankings. The new Coaches Poll has Kentucky checking in at No. 7, down three spots from last week. Ahead of Kentucky are Michigan State, Tennessee, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Virginia, and new No. 1 team Duke. The final pre-NCAA Tournament NET rankings have Kentucky checking in at No. 6. The sad thing is Kentucky is actually ahead of North Carolina and Michigan State, two teams ahead of the Wildcats in the committee’s rankings. KenPom now has Kentucky ranked No. 7 overall, No. 13 in offensive efficiency and No. 12 in defensive efficiency. TeamRankings has Kentucky down at No. 8. Bleacher Report actually thinks Kentucky is still the fifth-best team in college basketball, and they even gave a breakdown of the Wildcats going into postseason play: How They Got Here: As far as title contenders go, Kentucky’s season couldn’t have started much worse, losing by 34 to Duke in the Champions Classic. The Wildcats proceeded to lose to Seton Hall in early December and didn’t have a single quality win through 10 games. The rest of the campaign was a much different story, though, as Kentucky racked up 10 Quadrant 1 victories in its final 21 regular-season games. Reason to Believe: This is nothing new if you’ve been following Kentucky for the past decade, but its interior play is excellent. Led by PJ Washington, the Wildcats block a lot of shots and win the battle on the glass in almost every game. Kentucky also lives at the free-throw line and makes 74 percent of its freebies. Reason to Worry: Kentucky’s three-point defense isn’t as bad now as it was in November and December, but the Cats do still have lapses in which the opposing team gets a lot of wide-open looks at triples. Also, Kentucky’s three-point offense is a concern. This team doesn’t often rely on the deep ball, but it shot worse than 28 percent in all five regular-season losses. March Madness Ceiling: There’s no ceiling here. Kentucky knocked off more than enough top-tier opponents to be considered one of the favorites. If Reid Travis is fully healthy (he looked all right in the SEC tournament), the Wildcats definitely have the talent and depth to beat anyone. Even if he’s not fully back, they should at least make it to the Elite Eight before getting challenged. CBS Sports ranks Kentucky No. 6 overall, just barely trailing No. 5 Tennessee: For me, the difference between Kentucky and Tennessee is minimal. The Wildcats are seeded high and have their vital grad transfer, Reid Travis, back in the mix. PJ Washington, a sophomore power forward, is the team’s most valuable player. Keep an eye out for freshman Tyler Herro, who is liable to hit big shots -- and certainly won’t be afraid to take them. Yahoo Sports has Kentucky ranked No. 5 but in the second tier of title contenders. They also praised John Calipari for how he turned Kentucky’s season around after they started 10-3 but went 17-3 the rest of the way: Can we, once and for all, bottle up the wrongheaded take that John Calipari is a great recruiter but mediocre basketball coach and launch that take into the sun? There was a time not too long ago when this Kentucky team looked set to whiff on the lottery, and produce only one first-round NBA draft pick, for the first time under Coach Cal. And at that same time, the Wildcats did not look like true contenders. But the young core – PJ Washington, Keldon Johnson, Tyler Herro and Ashton Hagans – has developed as individuals and a unit. Kentucky is peaking at the right time. There’s no Anthony Davis- or Karl-Anthony Towns-level talent who would equate this year’s team to Calipari’s best. But the 2011 Final Four squad might be a decent comparison. Finally, here’s a look at the top 25 teams from the NCAA’s seed rankings: 1. Duke Blue Devils 2. Virginia Cavaliers 3. North Carolina Tar Heels 4. Gonzaga Bulldogs 5. Tennessee Volunteers 6. Michigan State Spartans 7. Kentucky Wildcats 8. Michigan Wolverines 9. Houston Cougars 10. Texas Tech Red Raiders 11. LSU Tigers 12. Purdue Boilermakers 13. Kansas Jayhawks 14. Florida State Seminoles 15. Kansas State Wildcats 16. Virginia Tech Hokies 17. Marquette Golden Eagles 18. Auburn Tigers 19. Wisconsin Badgers 20. Mississippi State Bulldogs 21. Villanova Wildcats 22. Maryland Terrapins 23. Buffalo Bulls 24. Iowa State Cyclones 25. Louisville Cardinals Kentucky wound up scoring eight wins over these teams. That alone speaks to how dangerous this Kentucky team is going into the Big Dance.<doc-sep>
Nell Redmond/Associated Press Duke earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament and is now the No. 1 overall team in the latest Associated Press poll released Monday. The return of Zion Williamson helped the Blue Devils win the ACC men's basketball tournament, including victories over North Carolina and Florida State. With previously top-ranked Gonzaga losing in the WCC final to Saint Mary's, it left an opening for Duke to climb four spots to become the new No. 1. Here are the full rankings heading into the first round of March Madness. 1. Duke 2. Virginia 3. North Carolina 4. Gonzaga Video Play Button Videos you might like 5. Michigan State 6. Tennessee 7. Kentucky 8. Michigan 9. Texas Tech 10. Florida State 11. Houston 12. LSU 13. Purdue 14. Auburn 15. Buffalo 16. Virginia Tech 17. Kansas 18. Kansas State 19. Wofford 20. Nevada 21. Wisconsin 22. Cincinnati 23. Villanova 24. Iowa State 25. Utah State The top of the rankings coincide with the NCAA tournament bracket, with the top four teams all No. 1 seeds in order. If the seeds hold, Duke would play Gonzaga in the national semifinals, while Virginia would take on North Carolina in the other side of the Final Four. Meanwhile, the No. 2 seeds also follow suit with the rankings from five through eight with Michigan State, Tennessee, Kentucky and Michigan. Michigan State was the only one of these four teams to win its conference title with a win over Michigan in the Big Ten final, which was likely enough to put it at No. 5. However, there are a few teams ranked much higher than their seeds, which could provide some indication as to what to expect in the coming days and weeks. No. 15 Buffalo dominated the MAC and will now get a chance to show what it can do as a No. 6 seed. Wofford went undefeated through the Southern Conference to earn a No. 7 seed, while voters had more faith ranking them No. 19 in the country. No. 20 Nevada and No. 22 Cincinnati are also seven seeds, which means there could be some interesting battles in the second round. Still, these rankings won't mean much once the tournament begins and teams get a chance to prove themselves on the court.