Thoughts on the AP Poll
(12/04/12 8:40pm)
Three thoughts regarding the latest AP Men’s Basketball Rankings:
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Three thoughts regarding the latest AP Men’s Basketball Rankings:
Duke Receives Votes for the First Time Since 1995
Overall, notwithstanding Duke’s 54-17 win over NC Central, this was not a good showing by the ACC. Four ACC teams played non-conference games against BCS-conference schools this weekend, and the ACC lost all four of them. The conference picture became a little clearer however, as Florida State routed Wake Forest and Georgia Tech defeated Virginia.
This season, as part of our new Soccer: Sunday Scorecard, we’ll be reviewing the games Duke is involved in over the weekend. This weekend the men’s team took on Santa Clara Friday night and Delaware Sunday, while the women’s team traveled out west to battle USC Friday and Washington State Sunday.
Here's a position by position breakdown of the Duke and North Carolina key players. The two teams meet this Saturday in Cameron Indoor Stadium at 7 p.m.
Must-Watch Thursday Game: Southeast No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No. 13 Belmont, 7:27 p.m. EST, TruTV
Region: Norfolk Head coach: Muffet McGraw Record: 31-1 Potential matchup with Duke: Regional final
Quinn Cook bounced back from a cold shooting performance against Wake Forest to lead the Blue Devils with a career-high 27 points as Duke brushed Clemson aside 68-40 Tuesday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The past three years, the Blue Devils’ season has ended just one game short of a trip to the Final Four. But every season there was an excuse. In 2010, then-freshman Brittney Griner led Baylor to an improbable comeback in the closing minutes to send Duke home early. In 2011, after an unfortunate draw, head coach Joanne P. McCallie’s squad ran into Geno Auriemma and then-No. 1 Connecticut one round too early. And in 2012, numerous injuries finally caught up to the Blue Devils as the shorthanded team fell to Stanford.
Virginia 2011-2012 season: (22-10, 9-7 ACC)
After being decimated by injuries late last season, this year was supposed to be different for Duke. But with the season just beginning, the Blue Devils already face a daunting obstacle as preseason All-American Elizabeth Williams has not yet recovered from a stress fracture suffered last March.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—The Blue Devils may be bowl eligible, but Florida State showed just how wide a gap there is between Duke and the ACC’s best.
The Tigers’ offense was a potent unit in 2011 behind stud wideout Sammy Watkins, but a porous defense almost derailed their season, as they allowed 28 or more points in seven of their eight final games, including a bowl-record 70 points in last year’s Orange Bowl.
What a difference one year can make. Last season Michigan State began the year ranked number two in the country. Yet the Spartans struggled with injuries and inconsistency and limped into the NCAA tournament as a No. 10 seed, eventually falling to UCLA in the first round.
It’s been ten years since the Blue Devils reached the Final Four behind the rallying cry “Eight is Enough.” That 2001-02 team lost two players to December transfers, leaving the team with just eight players heading into the conference season. Yet behind All-American Alana Beard, that team still managed to reach the Final Four.
On senior night at Cameron Indoor Stadium it was a freshman and a sophomore that powered Duke past the Hurricanes. Elizabeth Williams scored a game-high 19 points, and Chelsea Gray added 12 points and nine assists, as the Blue Devils earned a share of the ACC regular season title with a 74-64 win Friday night.
Freshman phenom Elizabeth Williams may get most of the attention, but Duke has quietly developed quite the arsenal of post players. The No. 5 Blue Devils over-powered No. 7 Maryland largely due to their overwhelming frontcourt presence, en route to a 80-72 win Sunday afternoon in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Masked behind the clutch shooting of Andre Dawkins and his 24 points is something even more important to Duke’s championship hopes, the dominance of Miles Plumlee. Despite his pedestrian six points, Plumlee grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and helped carry Duke to a 73-66 victory over the Clemson Tigers.
Chugiak, Alaska isn’t typically regarded as a soccer hotspot, or a hotspot of any kind for that matter. In fact, it’s quite a cold spot—the temperature dropped to 38 degrees below zero one day in 1999, and the mean temperature rises above 40 degrees just five months out of the year.
Cary, N.C. — Amid the rain Friday night, Duke’s offense slipped up.