While North Carolina clocked in as the unanimous No. 1 in both polls, Duke slipped in to the No. 8 slot in the AP poll. (The Blue Devils were ranked No. 5 in the ESPN/USA Today poll, but The Chronicle uses AP rankings.)
The Blue Devils were preseason No. 13 last year before climbing as high as No. 2 in the Feb. 4 rankings after a win at North Carolina.
Other notable teams in the preseason poll: No. 4 UCLA, who Duke could meet in the finals of the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament in New York; No. 11 Purdue, a team that hosts the Blue Devils in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge Dec. 2; No. 17 Miami and No. 21 Wake Forest, both ACC teams; and No. 20 Davidson and No. 22 Georgetown, both of which play Duke in non-conference games this year.
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