Thoughts on the AP Poll: Duke men's basketball slides to No. 17 after first ACC loss

Duke men's basketball's 81-70 loss to Wake Forest resulted in its AP ranking slip.
Duke men's basketball's 81-70 loss to Wake Forest resulted in its AP ranking slip.

Following the penultimate week of 2022 college basketball, a new AP Poll dropped Monday afternoon. With some key changes in the rankings for the Blue Devils and their ACC opponents, the Blue Zone takes a look at the latest poll:

Another tumble

Coming off a long break, the Blue Devils couldn't get it done in their ACC road opener. In a trip to Winston-Salem, N.C., to take on Wake Forest, Duke fell short 81-70. It was a disappointing performance all around for the Blue Devils, as Scheyer's young squad never found its rhythm. To be fair, Duke was down two of its leading freshmen, with Dereck Lively II and Dariq Whitehead missing the contest due to illness. Duke will look to bounce back in its final game of 2022, a home matchup with Florida State on New Year's Eve. The Blue Devils come in at No. 17 this week.

ACC power shift

If anything is clear from looking around the conference this week, it's that the ACC race is wide open. Two of the top teams in the conference, Duke and Virginia, fell this week on the road. The Cavaliers also lost their ACC road opener, falling to Miami 66-64. Another ranked team in the conference also stumbled as Virginia Tech fell to Boston College in overtime. Miami looks as if it is ready to continue its level of play from March and the Hurricanes will certainly be a force to be reckoned with in conference play. This week, Virginia falls to No. 13, Virginia Tech slides out of the rankings and Miami moves up to No. 14. North Carolina also enters the rankings at No. 25 after defeating Michigan.

A chalk Christmas

Other than Virginia's loss, the top teams held serve this week, and relatively easily. UConn and Purdue continued their winning ways, as they took down Georgetown and New Orleans, respectively. Kansas continued to show that it is a threat, taking down Harvard 68-54. As a result of Virginia losing, the remainder of the top 10 climbed a spot. The top five teams remain the same, with Texas coming in as the new No. 6. 

Complete rankings:

1. Purdue

2. UConn

3. Houston

4. Kansas

5. Arizona

6. Texas

7. Tennessee

8. Alabama

9. Arkansas

10. Gonzaga

11. UCLA

12. Baylor

13. Virginia

14. Miami

15. Wisconsin

16. Indiana

17. Duke

18. TCU

19. Kentucky

20. Auburn

21. Mississippi State

22. New Mexico

23. Xavier

24. West Virginia

25. North Carolina

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