Duke was the No. 1 team in the preseason AP poll, Coaches poll and the CBS Sports Top 25 (and one). But almost nothing has gone as planned since the season started, and the Blue Devils are now 15-5 following Monday night's loss inside Cameron Indoor Stadium to North Carolina State, which I wrote about here.
They're 3-4 in the ACC.
Their next two games are on the road.
So things might get worse before they better. And I'm not sure things will ever actually get too much better considering Duke's lack of a traditional point guard on the roster is glaring, Harry Giles is mostly a non-factor, and Grayson Allen is struggling in every way. No, the Blue Devils aren't going to miss the NCAA Tournament or anything silly like that. But it's becoming harder and harder to imagine them turning into the dominant force so many expected them to be in the preseason.
Duke is now 19th in the Top 25 (and one).
The complete and updated Top 25 (and one) is below.
Biggest Movers
1
Oregon
5
Duke
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | The Wildcats have four wins over teams also ranked in the Top 25 (and one). Their lone loss is a single-digit loss at Butler. | -- | 8-5 |
| 2 |  | The Jayhawks have won 18 straight since their season-opening loss to Indiana. Frank Mason is averaging 20.1 points, 5.4 assists and 4.4 rebounds in 35.0 minutes per game. | -- | 8-2 |
| 3 |  | The Wildcats have won seven straight since losing at Louisville. KenPom now projects them to win the SEC by three games. | -- | 10-2 |
| 4 |  | The Zags' 20-game winning streak is the fourth longest in school history. Nigel Williams-Goss is averaging a team-high 14.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists. | -- | 8-3 |
| 5 |  | The Bears have won three straight since losing at West Virginia. Their resume now features eight top-50 KenPom victories. | -- | 7-3 |
| 6 |  | The Seminoles are 7-1 against top-25 RPI teams and 9-1 against the top 50. They're 6-1 in the ACC and tied with North Carolina atop the league standings. | -- | 9-4 |
| 7 |  | The Wildcats' victory at UCLA on Saturday extended their winning streak to 12 games. Allonzo Trier got 12 points in what was his first game of the season. | -- | 6-5 |
| 8 |  | Saturday's loss to Arizona dropped the Bruins to 1-2 against ranked opponents. UCLA is 3-2 against top-50 KenPom schools. | -- | 10-2 |
| 9 |  | The Bulldogs needed overtime to win at DePaul on Saturday. Kethan Savage finished with 20 points off of the bench. | -- | 7-6 |
| 10 |  | All three of Notre Dame's losses are to schools also ranked in the Top 25 (and one). The Irish have six top-60 KenPom wins, the best of which came against Louisville. | -- | 6-5 |
| 11 |  | The Tar Heels have won six straight since losing at Georgia Tech. Justin Jackson is averaging a team-high 18.2 points and 5.0 rebounds in 30.5 minutes per game. | -- | 7-5 |
| 12 |  | The Cavaliers are 4-3 against top-50 RPI teams with zero losses outside of the top 50. They'll take a four-game winning streak into Tuesday's game at Notre Dame. | -- | 6-5 |
| 13 |  | All of Louisville's losses have come to schools ranked ahead of the Cardinals in the Top 25 (and one). Rick Pitino's team is 1-1 since Quintin Snider was sidelined with an injury. | -- | 7-5 |
| 14 |  | The Ducks have won 16 straight since losing to Georgetown. They handled Stanford easily Saturday despite Dillon Brooks being sidelined with an injury. | 1 | 11-1 |
| 15 |  | The Badgers' three-game winning streak has them tied with Maryland atop the Big Ten standings. Ethan Happ had 28 points and 12 rebounds in Saturday's win at Minnesota. | 1 | 9-3 |
| 16 |  | The Bearcats have won 10 straight since losing at Butler. They're 7-2 against the top 75 of the RPI with wins over Iowa State and SMU. | 1 | 9-1 |
| 17 |  | The Mountaineers have dropped two straight and now have four losses to unranked opponents. They're 3-3 in their past six games. | 1 | 8-2 |
| 18 |  | The Boilermakers have won four of five games since losing to Minnesota. Caleb Swanigan is averaging 18.5 points and 12.5 rebounds in 31.5 minutes per game. | 1 | 8-4 |
| 19 |  | The Blue Devils' resume features three top-50 KenPom wins and one sub-50 loss. KenPom now projects them to finish 9-9 in the ACC, where they are currently 3-4 after falling to NC State. | 5 | 10-2 |
| 20 |  | The Bluejays played without Maurice Watson for the first time and lost Saturday at home to Marquette. Watson is done for the season with a torn ACL. | -- | 8-5 |
| 21 |  | The Gamecocks took their first SEC loss Saturday at Kentucky. The double-digit defeat snapped South Carolina's five-game winning streak. | -- | 8-3 |
| 22 |  | Jock Landale finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's win over Pepperdine. The Gaels have won two straight since losing at Gonzaga. | -- | 10-2 |
| 23 |  | The Musketeers snapped their three-game losing streak Sunday with a win over Georgetown. Only one of Xavier's five losses is to an unranked opponent. | -- | 8-5 |
| 24 |  | The Gators' resume features five top-55 KenPom wins and just one loss to an unranked opponent. They're third in the SEC standings behind only Kentucky and South Carolina. | -- | 12-0 |
| 25 |  | Deonte Burton finished with a game-high 31 points in Saturday's win at Oklahoma. The Cyclones' resume features three top-50 KenPom wins and only one sub-35 loss. | -- | 9-1 |
| 26 |  | Melo Trimble finished with 20 points, five assists and five rebounds in Thursday's win over Iowa. The Terps have won four straight since losing to Nebraska. | -- | 10-2 |
