The No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils are set to embark on their journey in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. It remains to be determined which team Duke basketball will face in the first round of the Big Dance on Friday, and there is also continuing uncertainty with regard to the status of star freshman Cooper Flagg.

The first-year forward has not seen action in Duke's last two games during the ACC Tournament, which the Blue Devils also won.

The 18-year-old Flagg suffered an ankle injury during the Blue Devils' game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in quarterfinals of the ACC tourney last Thursday. Since then, Flagg sat out Duke's victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels last Friday and the ACC championship game versus the Louisville Cardinals last Saturday.

However, there is growing confidence in Flagg's chances to play in the first round of the national tournament. Duke head coach Jon Scheyer has already stated that it's a “full-steam ahead” for Cooper Flagg ahead of the first round.

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That appears to be the same sentiment by Flagg's mother, Kelly Flagg, who told Alex Schiffer of Front Office Sports that she “expect to see him [Cooper Flagg]–yes–very soon.”

It's not a stretch to imagine Duke getting by the first round easily even if the Blue Devils ended up not having Flagg active for its NCAA Tournament opener. There have only been two instances in the history of the Big Dance where a No. 1 seed fell prey to a No., 16 seed, though, that has happened twice in the last seven years, with the UMBC Retrievers doing it in 2018 and the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights replicated that stunning feat in 2023.

But the Blue Devils clearly needs Cooper Flagg if they are to win it all in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. He is Duke's best player by a mile, as evidenced by the fact that he is leading his team in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks per contest. That's not to mention that intangibles that he brings to the table for his team on the floor.

In the first round, Duke will lock horns with the winner of the First Four matchup between No. 16 seeds Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers and American University Eagles.