Win or lose, Duke remains a projected No. 1 seed for the 2002 NCAA Tournament. Only Kansas and Florida even come close to matching the overall profile of the Blue Devils.

	If nothing else, Juan Dixon has proven to be Maryland's biggest winner in four remarkable seasons.

Who is the fourth and final No. 1 seed in our first bracket projections of the New Year? A few hints: It isn't Virginia, Oklahoma State or Illinois. And it ain't Kentucky, Iowa or Boston College. Each lost in the opening weekend of 2002, proving once again that the start of conference play is when college basketball really heats up.

From where I sit -- a snow-bound New England hotel -- only three teams can even be considered as No. 1 seeds after the wild wackiness (or is that wacky wildness?) of the past weekend. They are Maryland, Cincinnati and Oklahoma. None is yet at the level of the current "Big Three," but this "little three" is a reasonably impressive 29-1 in its last 30 starts.

Maryland is the only one of the trio with two losses (one of which came at the hands of fellow "little three" member Oklahoma). The Sooners and Bearcats lost in November to Michigan State and Oklahoma State, respectively.

So it's Oklahoma or Cincy, right? Not so fast. It says here if you're an incumbent, especially an incumbent with a previous Final Four nucleus intact, that ties are broken in your favor. All of which leaves Maryland with a hold, albeit tenuous, on our last No. 1 seed.

If you are a first-time reader, welcome to Bracketology. Such frank "team talk" will dominate this space from now until March Madness. If you are a long-time Bracketology follower, we hope you enjoy this upgrade to first-class. The folks at ESPN.com have created a site to rival the incredible passion we've shared for the past seven years.

Each and every Monday through Championship Week, yours truly will bang his head against a wall and project the NCAA Tournament field. As usual, the projections are mainly for discussion at this point. A month from now they turn serious and, by March, become nervously accurate.

And the best part about this new site is you don't have to take my word for "why" or "where." Each team in the bracket comes with a pop-up link that includes the most important data and rationale behind its seeding and placement. If you don't agree, just wait. An updated bracket will be posted the following Monday.

In the meantime, I'll continue to "take your calls" at jlunardi@home.com. The best questions/comments will make it into our midweek "Bracket Banter" column. You can also "Chat" with me every Friday afternoon at 3pm on ESPN.com.

Enjoy the ride! If the first few days of January are any indication, we're in for one crazy winter!

Joe Lunardi is the resident "bracketologist" for ESPN.com. He can be reached at jlunardi@home.com.