While I highly doubt Nolan Smith did much research before his Christmas Eve tweet mentioning basketball in April, one statistical analysis guru has his back. According to Ken Pomeroy's statistical analysis of the early season, Duke is the second-best team in the nation—behind Texas, but ahead of undefeateds Kansas (Pomeroy's No. 3), Syracuse (No. 4), West Virginia (No. 5), Purdue (No. 11), and Kentucky (No. 17). In fact, Pomeroy rates both Duke's offense and defense in the top-5 nationally in efficiency.
Meaningful early-season statistics are difficult, if not impossible, to come by, but Pomeroy is no slouch.
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