Duke basketball rises in AP Poll despite loss

Duke basketball has moved from #11 in last week's Associated Press Poll to #9 in this week's poll, even after a loss. The Blue Devils fell to #1 Kansas earlier this week 75-72 in Las Vegas then beat Seattle at home 70-48 to put the program at 5-2.

Duke is one of two squads with more than one loss sitting in the top 10 of the poll with #10 Alabama joining the Blue Devils at 6-2.

It's not often a team will break into the top 10 of the poll after not being there the week before after suffering a loss, but Duke deserves to be there.

The team's lone losses are to the Jayhawks and now #4 Kentucky, both on neutral courts. Duke lost to the Jayhawks by 3 and the Wildcats by 5 and had chances to win in both games.

Duke also beat Arizona on the road 69-55, but that win is looking less and less impressive as the season moves on with the Wildcats going on to lose three of their next four games after their loss to the Blue Devils and drop outside of the top 25 completely.

The Blue Devils are also statistically one of the best teams in the country.

Duke is #4 overall at KenPom and #1 in defensive efficiency. Over the last few games, the offense has slipped and Duke now sits at #23 in offensive efficiency, but the program has led the way with its defense the entire year and it's a program still led by true freshmen that are still figuring themselves out at this level.

The Blue Devils are also #4 in the first NET rankings of the year. The NET ranks teams based on how difficult its schedule has been and what teams have the best wins. Essentially, the higher a team is in the NET, the more quality wins the team has.

Come NCAA Tournament time, the committee doesn't look at the AP Poll or the NET, but seeding is almost entirely based on the team's resume as a whole.

Per KenPom's algorithm, Duke is actually favored in every one of its games for the rest of the season. Is that going to happen? Probably not. But, Duke is projected by KenPom to beat #2 Auburn this Wednesday, which is a lot bigger of a game than it might look like on paper.

Duke got a ranked win at Arizona, but the Wildcats are no longer ranked. The Blue Devils have lost both of its games against currently ranked opponents, and Auburn has played better than any team in the country so far this season.

With the Tigers coming to Cameron Indoor, it's a huge opportunity for Duke to get a signature win on the resume before conference play begins in a weak ACC. This game matters a lot more than at first glance because of seedings in the tournament later on. Duke probably won't have many signature opportunities for wins come conference play, so picking off the Tigers could be a huge boost for Duke come March.

Two other ACC teams came in ranked this week along with the Blue Devils: #18 Pittsburgh and #20 North Carolina.