Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski may not place a lot of value in preseason polls. But for those who do, the Blue Devils are ranked No. 8 in the preseason USA Today Coaches’ Poll.
The top 10 teams in order are: Indiana, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio State, Michigan, N.C. State, Kansas, Duke, Syracuse and Florida.
The Wolfpack are the only ACC team ranked ahead of the Blue Devils and were ranked No. 1 in the conference in a poll of the league’s coaches this week. This was the first year the ACC has conducted a preseason coaches poll.
Krzyzewski did not attend the conference meeting in which it was decided the ACC coaches would conduct a preseason poll, but said—before the results were announced—that he disagrees with doing it.
“I would have never voted that,” Krzyzewski said. “Why would we make predictions? I don’t understand that…. I would rather be praised for what we’ve done, not the expectations of what we’re supposed to do.”
In the USA Today poll, rival North Carolina is ranked No. 12. The three schools in the Triangle, in addition to Florida State at No. 24, were the only ACC teams to make it into the top 25.
The Blue Devils are scheduled to play No. 3 Kentucky and No. 4 Ohio State and also have the chance to play No. 2 Louisville and No. 16 Memphis in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
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