After losing to Virginia Thursday, Duke rebounded with the return of Ryan Kelly, who scored 36 points to lead the Blue Devils past No. 5 Miami.
After the two games, Duke remains No. 3 in this week's AP Poll.
Here are some more thoughts on this week's rankings:
A new No. 1 emerges
For the first time in school history, Gonzaga is ranked No. 1 in this week’s AP Poll. With a nation best record of 29-2, the Bulldogs received 51 of 65 first-place votes and swapped places with now No. 2 Indiana after the Hoosiers' loss to Minnesota. Gonzaga becomes the first non “Power 6” conference team to be ranked No. 1 since Memphis in 2008. The Bulldogs closed their conference schedule out at a perfect 16-0 and look to continue their hot streak into the WCC tournament this week. Indiana comes in with seven first-place votes and are ranked second, with two huge games coming up this week against No. 14 Ohio State and No. 7 Michigan
Duke-Miami thriller yields little movement
Duke, even with its loss to Virginia, stayed in the No. 3 spot that they were in last week. The Blue Devils also picked up five first-place votes after not receiving any in the previous poll. Clearly, voters were pleased by the way Duke looked on Saturday with Ryan Kelly back in the lineup. Kelly’s legendary 36 point performance—in his first game since reinjuring his foot Jan. 8 against Clemson—has vaulted the Blue Devils back into the conversation of possible national championship favorites. As a result of the hard fought loss to Duke, Miami only fell one spot to No. 6 and cemented its status as a legitimate contender, following a tough loss to Wake Forest last week.
The rest of the top 10
Kansas squeaked out an overtime road win against Iowa State this week and moved up two slots to No. 4, while Georgetown won both of their games to round out the top 5. The Hoyas have now won 11 straight Big East games and can clinch the conference title with wins this week over Villanova and Syracuse. Michigan lost in arguably the biggest upset of the season to a Penn State team which had previously yet to win a game in Big 10 play. However, the Wolverines followed the bad loss up with a win over Michigan State, and now stand at No. 7. Louisville, Kansas State, and Michigan State round out the top 10.
Marquette the biggest winner, Arizona the biggest loser
The big winner of the week was Marquette, which after two wins over ranked Syracuse and Notre Dame moved up seven spots to No. 15. Arizona continues to struggle after its hot start, going 0-2 this week and falling seven spots all the way to No. 17.
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