The coaches and pollsters have spoken. Duke is the new No. 1 team in the nation, which theoretically means the Blue Devils ought to receive one of the top four seeds on Selection Sunday. And now it’s my turn for a rebuttal. Start forming the line and call me a Duke hater (I am not, for the record). I think the Blue Devils are very good. I think the Blue Devils could win a national championship. I just don’t think right now, on Feb. 23, that Duke is a No. 1 seed. It isn’t entirely their fault. The Devils’ three best nonconference opponents (Kansas State, Michigan State and Butler) have become three of the season’s biggest head-scratchers, and the typically tough ACC is unusually tepid. Duke doesn’t have any awful losses, but neither does it have any eye-opening wins. Here’s proof: The Devils are a respectable 6-2 against teams in the top-50 RPI, but they’ve only played two teams with an RPI of 25 or better: North Carolina (win) and St. John’s (loss). So today — stress the word today — if I were the one-woman selection committee, my top four would read: Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Kansas and Texas.

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O’Neil: Debating the No. 1 seeds