Duke basketball rises in latest edition of Associated Press Top-25 Poll

The Duke Basketball team finally rose in the latest edition of the Associated Press Top-25 Poll after picking up two victories last week.

After a handful of weeks either standing pat or falling in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll, the Duke Blue Devils have finally moved up, coming in at No. 7 this week.

The Baylor Bears jumped the Blue Devils five weeks ago, causing Duke to drop from No. 2 to No. 3, but then Duke dropped back-to-back games against Clemson and Louisville and took a down to No. 8.

More from Ball Durham

Duke responded with a 30-point win over Miami but still dropped to No. 9 before winning games against Pittsburgh and Syracuse last week, coupled with losses from teams ahead of them, to rise to No. 7 in the poll this week.

Baylor, Gonzaga, Kansas, San Diego State, Louisville, and Dayton still remain ahead of Duke while Florida State, Maryland, and Villanova round out the Top-10.

The Blue Devils continue it brutal stretch of games this week by closing out its three game road trip on Tuesday night against Boston College and on Saturday night at the Dean Dome against the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Boston College defeated North Carolina on Saturday evening despite the return of Cole Anthony to the lineup for the Tar Heels.

While the Associated Press Top-25 Poll is a nice tool to gauge teams on, the real metrics will be in use this weekend as the early edition of the Top-16 teams in the NCAA Tournament will be revealed on Saturday afternoon at 12:30pm EST prior to the slate of games on CBS.

The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee will released the Top-16 teams in the form of a bracket in each region, seeding teams as if they would for Selection Sunday.

Four No. 1 seeds will be ranked, four No. 2’s, and so on and so forth.

An ideal scenario for Duke would be to be in the East Bracket as the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 will be played at Madison Square Garden and the Round of 64 and Round of 32 would be played in Greensboro.