Last Saturday, all Duke basketball accomplished was to record an 80-56 victory over Charlotte, an unranked team, at home. However, the Blue Devils (6-3, 0-1 ACC) were able to move up one spot to No. 21 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll thanks to their decisive victory.
Only No. 12 Tennessee is ranked higher than Duke among teams with three losses.
Arizona is still ranked #1 in the nation, with Kansas, Purdue, Houston, and UConn completing the top five.
In the meantime, Duke is joined by four other ACC teams in this week’s AP Poll.
UNC (7-2, 1-0 ACC) held its position at No. 9. Making the largest jump in the country, Clemson (9-0, 1-0 ACC) rose from No. 24 to No. 13. After the Cavs went two weeks without receiving a ranking of their own, Virginia (8-1, 1-0 ACC) emerged at No. 22. Additionally, Miami (7-2, 1-0 ACC) dropped nine spots to No. 24.
Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2) in Cameron Indoor Stadium will see the Blue Devils, led by second-year head coach Jon Scheyer, take on unranked Hartford (6-3, 0-0 CAA).
After that, Duke basketball will have a week off before playing No. 6 Baylor (9-0, 0-0 Big 12) at Madison Square Garden in New York City on December 20 at 7 p.m. (ESPN). Depending on how other ACC teams perform in their remaining non-conference games, that might be the Blue Devils’ last chance to finish in the top ten this season.