how important is that #1 seed in the East really?
Important enough that if we get it we won't have to leave the state on our way to San Antonio. Even though the state of North Carolina is not a vast (or even half) contingency of Duke faithful, this would help us out greatly not to have to travel to the unfriendly confines of anti-Duke sites. Although Rupp Arena isn't a scheduled site this year, a hostile enviroment like that is always nice to avoid for Duke teams (we all remember the home-court advantage Indiana had there in '02).

I agree with Classof06, in that for us to have a legitimate shot at cutting down the nets in April, we need to come out of Charlotte. Now I don't propose us playing seriously injured players (if God forbid we should encounter that problem) in order to attain the East's top seed, but it would greatly help us if we could end up with it.