Duke's Schedule Losing Luster (According to the AP Poll)

Jacob Levitt gives three weekly thoughts on the AP Poll

1. Duke's Weakening Schedule

Two weeks ago, I said that No. 1 Duke had one of the toughest schedule's in the country—and they still do—but it looks a lot less impressive today than it did back then. The Butler game should no longer be considered a big matchup—the Bulldogs have completely dropped from the poll and did not even receive a single vote to move into the "Others receiving votes" category. The victory over No. 5 Kansas State—the nation's highest rated one-loss team—is still very impressive, but I think the Wildcats are somewhat overrated. The Wildcats got routed in a semi-home matchup and in my book, top-five teams don't do that. Granted, it was by a unanimous No. 1, but stat-guru Ken Pomeroy agrees with me in principle, placing Kansas State at No. 19.

The Blue Devils' next opponent—No. 6 Michigan State—lost in a battle to No. 7 Connecticut in the EA Sports Maui Invitational, destroying a potential No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in Cameron. That said, it's still a tremendous showdown between two of last year's Final Four teams. The loss might even give the Spartans extra motivation—as if playing against the defending NCAA champions in a jam-packed Cameron wasn't motivating enough.

2. Why DO They Play the Games?

In the last paragraph I mentioned that No. 6 Michigan State LOST to No. 7 Connecticut... on a neutral floor. That wasn't a typo. The Huskies won on a neutral court, and followed that up with an absolute drubbing of then-No. 9 Kentucky that was pretty much over by halftime.  The way Kemba Walker has been playing (POY level), it's obvious that Connecticut was underrated the first time around. So why penalize them for it in this round of polling? For what it's worth, I think of the rankings as a determinant of what would happen if any two teams played each other on a neutral court. Well, it happened. And Connecticut won. If they had previously lost games or shown themselves unworthy of a high ranking, I would understand the pollsters decision. As is, I'm left questioning why games even take place if everyone is just going to look at how teams fare "on paper" anyway.

3. ACC Has a Chance at Redemption

Just when you thought the ACC had hit rock-bottom, it fell a little lower. Now that North Carolina has fallen into "Others receiving votes," Duke is now the only ranked team from the conference (though as a unanimous No. 1, it's more than just "ranked"). Virginia Tech also received a couple votes, but that's it for the once-heralded ACC. But with the ACC/Big Ten Challenge this week, five ACC squads will take on the five ranked teams from the Big Ten. One of those matchups will be the aforementioned Duke-Michigan State showdown, but wins by the ACC team in any of the other four—with the possible exception of No. 15 Minnesota vs. Virginia—would almost guarantee the ACC additional spots in next week's poll. At the same time, a resounding loss by the ACC in the Challenge would open the door for even more criticism of the conference's overall strength. And for Duke, that might further tarnish the strength-of-schedule numbers.