Duke becomes first team this season to hold No. 1 ranking for two weeks

Duke basketball (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
Duke basketball (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /
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The Duke Basketball team became the first this season to hold the Associated Press No. 1 ranking for more than one week and the Blue Devils will be looking to keep that streak going.

For the first time this season there was not a change at the top of the Associated Press Top-25 Poll and the Duke Blue Devils are still the No. 1 team in the country.

The Michigan State Spartans started the year as the preseason No. 1 team but fell to the then No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats in the Champions Classic.

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After receiving its No. 1 ranking, Kentucky then lost at home to Evansville which allowed the Blue Devils to slide into the top spot.

As the No. 1 team in the land, the Duke Blue Devils hit the road to New York City for the 2K Empire Classic and won the tournament defeating the California Golden Bears and the Georgetown Hoyas.

Duke remained at No. 1, receiving 53 of 65 first place votes as the Louisville Cardinals remain at No. 2, followed by the Michigan State Spartans, Kansas Jayhawks, and Maryland Terrapins.

Before the Blue Devils can look ahead to its potential Top-3 matchup on the road in East Lansing against the Spartans, Duke will host Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday night as well as Winthrop on Friday night.

The trip to Michigan State on Tuesday, December 3 will be the first true road game for the Blue Devils this season but the team won’t have to wait long for its second as Duke has its first ACC game on Friday, December 6 in Blacksburg against Virginia Tech.

Four ACC teams were ranked in the Top-10 with the North Carolina Tar Heels at No. 6 and the Virginia Cavaliers at No. 7, but there was not another team from the conference to crack the Top-25 despite the Florida State Seminoles being the “No. 26 team”.

Duke will look to make it three weeks in a row at No. 1 with two victories during this Thanksgiving week starting on Tuesday night.