Duke basketball: AP ranking not close to NCAA Tournament seeding

The Duke basketball team continued to see its Associated Press ranking rise. 

It was pretty surprising to see the Duke basketball team as a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament but it was even more surprising on Monday when the Associated Press Top-25 Poll was released.

After running through the ACC Tournament with a blowout victory over Pittsburgh, an NCAA Tournament team, and defeating ranked teams in Miami and Virginia in the semifinals and championship, respectively, the Blue Devils jumped nine spots to No. 12 in the AP Poll this week.

The ranking means absolutely nothing, considering the NCAA field has been already announced, but it’s clear that the AP votes and selection committee do not see eye-to-eye.

Duke is the highest ranked team in the Associated Press Poll not to have a Top-4 seed as UConn, No. 10 in the poll, got slotted as a No. 4 seed in the tournament.

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Miami, ranked No. 16, is also a No. 5 seed in the Big Dance.

The Blue Devils are riding a nine game winning streak into the NCAA Tournament and have become a trendy pick among experts and analysts to make the Final Four.

Duke basketball trying to stack up against rest of region

Purdue, the No. 1 seed in the East Region, is the No. 3 in the AP Poll while Marquette, the No. 2 seed, is No. 6 in the rankings.

The Blue Devils fell to Purdue, 75-56, on November 27 in the championship game of the Phil Knight Invitational but has not played anyone else in its region during the regular season.

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Jon Scheyer’s team is ranked higher than Kansas State, No. 3 seed in the East and No. 14 in the poll, as well as Tennessee, a No. 4 seed and No. 20 in the country.

Duke will take on No. 12 seed Oral Roberts on Thursday night (7:10p.m. ET, CBS) from Orlando, Florida.