Duke basketball inexplicably plummets in AP Top-25 after loss against Kentucky

The Duke basketball team, then ranked No. 6, was expected to drop in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll after its loss to No. 19 Kentucky in the Champions Classic but no one thought the Blue Devils would fall as far as they did on Monday afternoon when the rankings were unveiled.

Despite injuries, a cold shooting night, and tired legs from its freshmen against the Wildcats, Jon Scheyer's team dropped six spots to No. 12, tied for the second biggest demotion of the week of all the team remaining inside the Top-25.

Alabama, who had been ranked No. 2, also fell six rankings to No. 8 after its loss on the road against No. 13 Purdue.

Kentucky jumped ten spots to No. 9 for its comeback victory over Duke.

The only team that dropped more than the Blue Devils and Crimson Tide was Duke's next opponent, Arizona, who was No. 9 prior to a 15-point road loss against unranked Wisconsin. The Wildcats are now No. 17 while the victory earned the Badgers a spot at No. 19.

Duke, after responding to its first loss of the season with a 51-point win over Wofford, will have an opportunity to jump right back into the Top-10, or even make a push for the Top-5 with its matchup in Tucson against No. 17 Arizona on Friday night (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2) and meeting No. 1 Kansas in Las Vegas on Tuesday (9:00 p.m. ET, ESPN).

No. 4 Auburn also remains on the Blue Devil schedule on Wednesday, December 4 in the ACC vs. SEC Challenge as Duke will face three ranked teams in its next four matchups. The only program that the Blue Devils will face that is not ranked during that time period is its November 29 matchup against Seattle in Durham.