Three observations on this weeks AP Top 25:
1. Somehow, Duke is ranked behind a three-loss Michigan State team. The Spartans just edged out the Blue Devils for the seventh spot in the AP poll despite having one more loss. This is surprising given the difficulty of Duke's schedule thus far, and the fact that both Blue Devil losses have come to current top 20 teams (No. 13 Wisconsin and No. 20 Georgia Tech) on the road. What's more, despite being ranked No. 2 in the preseason poll, the Spartans have been very disappointing so far this season after barely salvaging a victory, at home, against Gonzaga early in the season (a team Duke nearly doubled up at a neutral court) and losing to arguably their best three non-conference opponents in Florida, North Carolina, and Texas. Something seems to have gone awry here.
2. Pollsters still seem to consider Duke the best of the "second tier" teams. For the last few weeks, Duke has been ranked as the top one-loss team, behind only the undefeated teams (last week they were Kansas, Texas, Kentucky and Purdue). Now (excluding the strangely ranked three-loss Spartans) Duke is the top ranked two-loss team, ahead of Tennessee, West Virginia, and Georgetown.
3. North Carolina continues to get respect from the pollsters. Despite an embarrassing upset loss to College of Charleston earlier this week, their fourth loss of the season, North Carolina only fell to No. 12 in this week's poll. The Tar Heels are ranked directly ahead of a two-loss Kansas State team and a three-loss Wisconsin team, despite North Carolina's struggles against their marquee non-conference opponents like Syracuse, Kentucky, and Texas.
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