Duke basketball (19-2, 11-0 ACC) is regarded as one of the few teams that is a true contender for the national championship this season. Ranked #2 for the third straight week at the Associated Press poll, the Blue Devils have long been considered one of the three or four best teams in the nation.
But, criticisms have raised about the lack of elite competition in a weak ACC, and it's justified. The Blue Devils are running through the rest of the conference, but the conference as a whole lacks a truly great team outside of Duke.
Duke has won 7 of its 11 ACC games by double digits and 6 by 20 points or more. It raises questions about how battle-tested Duke will truly be entering the NCAA Tournament.
Jon Scheyer scheduled a gauntlet through the non-conference schedule, which is proving more important by the week with how down the ACC continues to be.
The Blue Devils are 5-2 in Quadrant 1 games, with losses on neutral courts to Kansas and Kentucky, and a home win over #1 Auburn.
But there's a category Duke can use to boost its relevance as maybe the best team in the nation even with a weak conference play. Duke is one of four teams that is undefeated on the road this season.
The Blue Devils are one of four programs who have not lost on the road this season, along with Texas Tech, Houston, and St. Mary's.
Texas Tech might be the hottest team in college basketball right now after getting off to a slow start to the season, Houston is always a contender on a national scale with Kelvin Sampson as its head coach, and St. Mary's is one of the best mid-major programs in the nation.
Obviously, Duke does have two losses on neutral courts, but have not lost in true road environments.
The Blue Devils are 6-0 on the road through the 2024-25 season and have won those games by an average margin of 18.3 points, highlighted by wins against teams like Arizona and Louisville. The lone road game Duke hasn't won by at least double digits was its most recent road outing against Wake Forest, when the Blue Devils won 63-56.
Even with how 'easy' Duke's schedule has been, the Blue Devils are still getting it done and winning with ease most of the time. Even though the program is playing fairly weak competition, Duke is clearly showing how much better it is than any of these programs its faced on a nightly basis.
The Blue Devils look to make it 7-0 on the road next and win their 16th straight game against the Syracuse Orange (10-12, 4-7 ACC) on February 6th (7:00pm ET, ESPN2.)