Duke basketball picked up a huge win on the road against #17 Arizona on Friday night by a score of 69-55. The win is a huge resume boost for the Blue Devils with a Quadrant 1 win on the road at one of the hardest places to play in college basketball, the McKale Center.
The Blue Devils' victory became much more important following the loss to #9 Kentucky in the State Farm Champions Classic, as with a loss to Arizona the Blue Devils' record would've fell to 3-2 with its next matchup being against the #1 team in the land, Kansas.
Now, the Blue Devils have a big road win on the road to boost the resume, but the non-conference schedule doesn't ease up for Duke any time soon.
After Duke faces #1 Kansas in Las Vegas tomorrow night (ESPN, 9:00pm ET), it will host Seattle, then host #4 Auburn at Cameron Indoor on December 4th (ESPN, 9:15pm ET) as part of the SEC/ACC Challenge.
Jon Scheyer has never shied away from giving his team a tough non-conference slate early on in the season, and he did it again this season with four matchups for the Blue Devils against ranked teams.
But, a win against #1 Kansas is a lot more important than fans think, here's why.
Duke's win against Arizona being on the road is a huge deal. If it was at home and Duke won as comfortably as it did, it would probably be argued by experts that Arizona just isn't that great of a team. The Blue Devils getting the victory on the road will ensure the win as a solid Quadrant 1 victory for the rest of the season.
But, this win versus Arizona could look worse as the season has gone on. Arizona had high preseason expectations as potential national championship contenders and were ranked #10 in the preseason Associated Press Poll. Now, the Wildcats sit with a 2-2 record and will probably drop out of the Top 25 after this week.
Not that either of Arizona's losses have been bad, those being to #19 Wisconsin along with Duke, but the Wildcats really haven't looked that great.
Defensively they've struggled and their star Caleb Love has had a rough start to the season after being selected to the Preseason All-Big 12 First Team. Love is averaging just 10.3 points on 32% shooting from the field and 21.4% shooting from three after being a National Player of the Year candidate coming into the season.
Arizona also dropped the 23rd at KenPom with the loss to the Blue Devils.
Not to mention the Wildcats are transitioning to the Big 12, the best conference in college basketball. Losses for the Wildcats can pile up with no real nights off in the Big 12. There's a pretty real chance as the season goes on, Duke's win over Arizona looks worse and worse, which is why tomorrow night is so important.
On a neutral court against the #1 team in the country, the Blue Devils need to prove they can compete with the best team in college basketball. Do I think Kansas is actually the best team in college basketball? No. But the rankings say so.
Non-conference wins are going to be more important for Duke than a lot of other top teams because of how weak the ACC is probably going to be this year. Once ACC play begins, there won't be a ton of chances for the Blue Devils to rack in quality wins, a luxury top teams in the rest of the power conferences have.
And if Duke loses tomorrow night and to Auburn, there's just going to be constant discussion on whether Duke is a legitimate national title contender or not if the win versus Arizona looks worse as the season goes on. A 1-3 record against your ranked non-conference opponents could hurt the Blue Devils seeding down the road, especially if the Wildcats continue to struggle and the win isn't even against a ranked team in March.
I undoubtedly think Duke is a better basketball team than Kansas. More talent, better defensively, more consistent offensively. It's a winnable game for Duke that might mean a lot more down the road than fans think right now.