Duke won a pair of games to advance one spot in the rankings—one of only two shifts among the nation’s top 10 teams. Week 10 witnessed much more movement in the lower half of the rankings:
Coach K wins 1,000th career game, Blue Devils reclaim No. 4 ranking
On the heels of an impressive 63-52 road victory against No. 10 Louisville, No. 5 Duke returned home Monday night to play Pittsburgh. Despite a late push by the Panthers (13-7, 3-4 in the ACC), the Blue Devils (17-2, 4-2) secured a 79-65 victory. Duke made 11 three-pointers and freshman Tyus Jones led the team with 22 points, tying his season high.
After five days of rest, Duke traveled to the historic Madison Square Garden to take on Steve Lavin’s St. Johns team. The Red Storm (13-6) never made things easy for the Blue Devils, who trailed by four at the half and by ten with 8:15 remaining in the second half. Then, Duke turned up the intensity on both ends of the court—the Blue Devils went on an 18-2 run and prevented the Red Storm from scoring a field goal for six consecutive minutes of play. Freshman Jahlil Okafor finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds on 7-of-10 shooting. The win for Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was the 1,000th of his career—an accomplishment unmatched by any other coach in the history of NCAA Division I men's basketball.
No. 4 Villanova defeated Creighton 71-50 Sunday, but the Wildcats (18-2) were upset the previous Monday at Georgetown, 78-58. Duke moved up one spot to No. 4 as Villanova slid to No. 7 on the heels of its upset.
The Hoyas moved up to No. 21 after previously being unranked thanks to their strong performance against Villanova. Butler also made a big move as a Big East team, climbing to No. 25 after previously receiving the 11th-most votes among unranked teams last week.
Top ACC teams post strong performances
Duke was not the only team in the ACC to enjoy a successful week of basketball. Current conference leader No. 2 Virginia (19-0, 7-0) remained unbeaten with a 57-28 blowout home win against Georgia Tech and a much more competitive 50-47 victory at Cassell Coliseum against rival Virginia Tech. A pair of victories posted by No. 1 Kentucky (19-0, 6-0) kept the Cavaliers situated at No. 2 nationally. No. 8 Notre Dame also continued its winning ways, defeating Virginia Tech 85-60 and N.C. State 81-78 in overtime. These victories—both of which occurred on the road—only kept the Fighting Irish (19-2, 7-1) at No. 8 this week, though, ahead of their tilt with Duke Wednesday.
Then-No. 10 Louisville bounced back from its home loss against the Blue Devils with an 80-68 road victory against Pittsburgh, and then-No. 15 North Carolina turned in a pair of conference victories against Wake Forest and Florida State. The Cardinals (16-3, 4-2) stayed at No. 10. and the Tar Heels (16-4, 6-1) jumped to No. 12 in this week’s poll.
Miami (14-5, 4-2) also made an appearance this week as teams near the bottom of the poll fell, jumping four spots to claim the No. 23 spot this week and give the ACC six ranked teams.
Another week of shake-ups in the Big 12
This week witnessed mixed results for teams in the Big 12—a conference which continues to be well-represented in the top 25. Then-No. 9 Iowa State defeated Kansas State at home 77-71, but then was upset on the road by Texas Tech, 78-73. The Cyclones (14-4) dropped to No. 15 in this week’s poll. Current conference leader and then-No. 11 Kansas enjoyed perhaps the most successful week of any team in the nation—the Jayhawks (16-3) first defeated then-No. 19 Oklahoma 85-78 and then recorded a decisive 75-62 road victory against then-No. 17 Texas.
This pair of victories against ranked opponents helped Kansas climb to No. 9 this week. The Longhorns (14-5) slipped to No. 19, and the Sooners (12-7)—who also dropped their second game of the week at then-No. 21 Baylor 69-58—fell five spots to No. 24. Then-No. 18 West Virginia defeated Texas Christian 86-85 in overtime—the victory helped the Mountaineers (16-3) advance to No. 17 in this week’s poll. Baylor also jumped one spot to No. 20.
Mid-majors roll in Week 10
Week 10 was generous to teams outside of the power conferences. No. 3 Gonzaga continued its dominance of the West Coast Conference with a pair of home victories against Saint Mary’s and Pacific. The Bulldogs (20-1) remained at No. 3 in this week’s poll. No. 14 Wichita State experienced similar success—the Shockers (18-2) notched decisive victories against Missouri State and Drake and climbed to No. 12 in the rankings.
Previously No. 16 Virginia Commonwealth edged Atlantic 10 opponent St. Louis 63-61 on the road to remain undefeated in conference play. The Rams (16-3) advanced to No. 14 in this week’s poll. Then-No. 20 Northern Iowa survived two close challenges—a 66-60 home victory against Indiana State and a thrilling 54-53 road win against Illinois State—and the Panthers (18-2) moved up to No. 18 in the rankings as a result.
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