Duke Basketball: Blue Devils Drop in CBB Rankings After NC State Loss
By Chris Brown
After a crazy week of college basketball where Duke Basketball and 14 other ranked programs lost, the Blue Devils remain among the Top 10.
There were some major changes in the new NCAA Top 25 poll released today. Week 9 of the college basketball season saw 15 ranked teams lose: Nos. 1 (Michigan State), 2 (Duke), 4 (Arizona State), 5 (Xavier), 7 (Oklahoma), 10 (Kansas), 11 (Texas A&M), 12 (UNC), 14 (Arizona), 15 (Miami), 16 (TCU), 17 (Kentucky), 22 (Arkansas), 23 (Tennessee), and 24 (Florida State) all lost this week.
After a 96-85 loss to NC State in Raleigh Saturday, Duke dropped to 6th in the latest Coaches Poll and 7th in the AP poll. Villanova reclaimed the top spot followed by West Virginia, Virginia, Michigan State, (Purdue- AP), and Wichita State. While the loss was extremely disappointing and frustrating for Blue Devil fans, it’s not the end of the world for Duke Basketball quite yet.
Duke is currently 13-2 overall and 1-2 in the ACC. The main thing to note is that they only have two losses so far this season. They also still have great wins over Michigan State, Florida State, Florida, and Texas. While Boston College and NC State were both unranked, both losses came in the team’s first true ACC road games in one of the toughest conferences in college basketball. The young roster was able to step up in wins against Portland State in Portland and at Indiana, but the Atlantic Coast Conference is a different animal.
It is weird to see the Blue Devils, voted by the media in the preseason to win the ACC, ranked 8th in the conference behind the likes of Clemson, Boston College, and Georgia Tech, but there’s still a long way to go in the season. Duke also has a favorable rest of the schedule, with most of their tougher ACC games hosted in Durham. It’s still not time for Duke to panic yet while blue blood programs such as North Carolina and Kansas are losing both on the road and at home.
Related Story: Duke Collapses Late Against NC State
For Duke Basketball to improve their seeding and contend in the ACC and NCAA, they’re going to have to learn to win on the road away from Cameron. Going back to last season, the Blue Devils have lost five straight ACC road games. Duke will get their chance to prove it very soon, taking on Pitt on the road this Wednesday.