Duke back in Top-5 of Associated Press Poll after surprising NET ranking

The Duke Basketball team is back in the Top-5 of the latest Associated Press Top-25 Poll after learning of its surprising NET ranking on Monday morning.

For a Monday in which there won’t be a game played and there hasn’t been a game since December 6, it was a busy morning for the Duke Basketball program.

First, the Blue Devils learned of its NET ranking, which is the evaluation tool that the NCAA used to replace the RPI rankings last season.

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Duke stands at 9-1 on the season with a 1-0 mark in the ACC. The Blue Devils have defeated Kansas, California, and Georgetown on a neutral floor while defeating Michigan State and Virginia Tech on the road. The one thing against Duke is that Stephen F. Austin was able to spring the upset of the Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The Blue Devils were ranked at No. 13 in the inaugural NET rankings for this season, directly behind the West Virginia Mountaineers and ahead of the Wichita State Shockers.

Ohio State is No. 1 in the NET rankings despite its 13-point loss to 4-5 Minnesota on Sunday night.

However, the NET rankings were not the only rankings to be released on Monday, as the Associated Press Top-25 Poll was also released.

It was another wild week of college basketball in which many of the Top-5 teams lost. In fact, four of those Top-5 teams lost with the once exceptions being the Kansas Jayhawks.

In the latest edition of the poll, the Jayhawks moved to No. 1, making the fifth team to be ranked No. 1 this season.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs moved from No. 6 to No. 2 while the Louisville Cardinals only dropped from No. 1 to No. 3 after its loss to Texas Tech.

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Due to the movement in the rankings, the Duke Blue Devils slid up to No. 4 as now Duke has been ranked in all four spots in the Top-4 this season, and it is only mid-December.

The Blue Devils only had to be bystanders to see its ranking improve as Duke did not have any games this week due to its final exams.

The Ohio State Buckeyes round out the Top-5 of the AP Poll this week.

As for the ACC, Duke and Louisville are the only teams the conference has in the Top-5 but the Virginia Cavaliers remain in the Top-10, coming in at No. 9.

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The only other team ranked in the Top-25 from the ACC is the Florida State Seminoles who are No. 19 as the North Carolina Tar Heels dropped out of the poll after losing its latest game to Wofford at home as the Heels have lost four of its last five.

Duke will get to face those same Wofford Terriers on Thursday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium at 7:00pm EST and the game will be broadcasted on ESPN2.

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