Back in the Top Five, but the rest of the ACC is meh.
We don’t usually talk a whole lot about rankings because, well, Duke is usually ranked. We tend to talk about rankings more when the Blue Devils aren’t ranked, because that’s unusual.
But we thought we’d talk about the polls this week for a few reasons:
First, Duke is up to #4 in both the AP and Coaches Poll behind Tennessee, Auburn (Duke beat the Tigers 84-78 earlier this month) and Iowa State.
Second because Duke is now ranked ahead of Kansas (#7) and Kentucky (#10), the two teams that Duke lost to in early-season games.
And third, while the SEC has the #1, #2, #5, #6, #10, #12, #16, #19 and #23 ranked teams, the ACC has...
Duke.
Pitt, UNC and Clemson got votes, but Duke is the only ranked ACC team at the moment.
This won't last forever. Clemson is a very good team and Pitt has potential. And over the next few years, Louisville and Notre Dame are going to be very, very good.
But right now, this is as weak as we can remember the ACC being. Which brings us to another point.
Honestly, as Duke fans, it’s fun when UNC stinks and we’re sure they enjoy seeing us struggle too.
However, it’s really not good for the conference. Duke and UNC are the tentpoles for the ACC and when one struggles, it hurts everyone else.
It doesn’t help that Virginia has more or less collapsed since Tony Bennett abruptly retired in October.
As we said, Louisville and Notre Dame are coming on fast and that will help, and UNC will be back, whether it’s under Hubert Davis or someone else. Basketball at Carolina is much like basketball at Kansas or Kentucky. The infrastructure will always be there and the pressure to achieve will be too.
Meanwhile, Duke soldiers on.
