For the sixth straight season, Duke is in a familiar spot.
The Blue Devils once again will begin the year in the top five as they were ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press' preseason poll, which was released Monday. Duke comes in behind Kansas, Kentucky and Gonzaga, but was slotted just ahead of ACC foe Virginia, which was ranked fifth. Rounding out the top 10, in order, are Tennessee, Wichita State, Nevada, North Carolina and Villanova.
The Blue Devils will begin their season at the Champions Classic, which is set to feature four ranked teams—the Wildcats and Jayhawks join Duke among the top five while Michigan State came in 11th, the lowest of any side in the annual four-team field.
Looking ahead to the Blue Devils' regular-season slate, Duke could face as many as 10 ranked teams throughout their 2018-19 campaign with scheduled opponents in Kentucky, No. 5 Virginia, No. 9 North Carolina, No. 16 Virginia Tech, No. 18 Syracuse, No. 19 Florida State and No. 22 Clemson. The Blue Devils are also set to open the Maui Invitational with San Diego State, which garnered nine votes, and they could potentially meet up with No. 12 Auburn in the semifinals and No. 3 Gonzaga in the title game.
Additionally, Duke will take on both Indiana and Notre Dame, which just missed entering the top 25, and ACC foes Louisville, Miami and N.C. State also picked up votes along with Texas Tech, which the Blue Devils will meet Dec. 20 at Madison Square Garden in New York, and St. John's, which visits Durham in February.
Duke will return to the floor Tuesday evening when it hosts Virginia Union for the first of two exhibition contests. The Blue Devils will then battle Ferris State Saturday afternoon before turning their attention to Kentucky.
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Twitter: @mpgladstone13
A junior from just outside Philadelphia, Mitchell is probably reminding you how the Eagles won the Super Bowl this year and that the Phillies are definitely on the rebound. Outside of The Chronicle, he majors in Economics, minors in Statistics and is working toward the PJMS certificate, in addition to playing trombone in the Duke University Marching Band. And if you're getting him a sandwich with beef and cheese outside the state of Pennsylvania, you best not call it a "Philly cheesesteak."