Duke beat Notre Dame 75-69 late Saturday to win the ACC Tournament, at which point it became undeniable that the Blue Devils’ have a serious case to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Will the selection committee reward them properly?

I have no idea.

But the selection committee should. Because the Blue Devils now have eight top-25 RPI wins and 13 top-55 RPI wins. Both numbers lead the nation. And, yes, I know Duke is 27-8. And, yes, I know no school has ever received a No. 1 seed with eight losses. But only two of those eight losses are sub-50 RPI losses — and those two sub-50 RPI losses came by a total of six points. Kansas, by the way, also has two sub-50 RPI losses. So does North Carolina. And nobody has an issue with the Jayhawks or Tar Heels being a No. 1 seed. So I’m not sure why anybody would get caught up on Duke. And please don’t try to argue against this by mentioning that Duke finished fifth in the ACC standings. For the millionth time, the selection committee does not care where a team finishes in a league — especially in a league with an unbalanced schedule. What matters is a team’s total body of work. And Duke’s total body of work spans from the 11th day of November to the 11th day of March.

I have Duke fourth in the updated Top 25 (and one).

So you know where I stand.

And the fact that Duke’s top seven scorers have combined to miss 25 games — combined with the fact that Duke’s Hall of Fame coach, Mike Krzyzewski, missed seven games in January, which resulted in three of Duke’s eight losses — also supports Duke’s candidacy. Bottom line, when you factor in the quality and quantity of wins, and take Duke’s injury-plagued past into consideration, this is easy. The Blue Devils should be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Will the selection committee get it right? We’ll find out at 5:30 p.m. ET on CBS — America’s Most Watched Network.

(The network of stars!)

Meantime …

Kentucky moved up to eighth, which caused UCLA to drop to ninth. And Iowa State beat West Virginia 80-74 to win the Big 12 Tournament. So the Cyclones are now 9-1 in their past 10 games. I moved them up to 15th in the Top 25 (and one), which caused Butler, Florida and Virginia to each drop one spot, no fault of their own. And Michigan beat Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. So the Wolverines replaced the Golden Gophers in these rankings. They’re now 26th.

The complete Top 25 (and one) is below.