Thoughts on the AP Poll: Duke remains the top-ranked team, Villanova exits Top 25

With two weeks of play in the books, things are starting to shape up across college basketball, as seen in the latest AP poll:  

Duke retains top spot

After soaring to the top spot in Week 2’s rankings, the Blue Devils remained at No. 1, securing 53 of 63 first-place votes. Duke (3-0) steamrolled Eastern Michigan by a score of 84-46 in its sole game action last week. The extremely talented Blue Devils will play in the Maui Invitational this week, where they will potentially face off against No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 8 Auburn.

Villanova falls out of the rankings

After losing four key pieces from its 2017-18 national championship team to the NBA, Villanova (1-2) is undergoing even more severe growing pains than expected. On Wednesday, No. 9 Michigan walloped the Wildcats 73-46, and Villanova had 50 percent more turnovers than field goals in the re-opening of the Finneran Pavilion. Perhaps even more embarrassing for head coach Jay Wright’s squad was dropping their second consecutive home game on Saturday, this time to Furman. Wright certainly has a lot of work to do to make the Wildcats a national championship contender again.

Indiana remains unranked

Although it put up a strong showing in its 93-76 victory over then-No. 24 Marquette, Indiana (3-1) failed to make its first appearance in the AP Top 25 this season, as the Hoosiers’ loss to Arkansas Sunday proved to be too much to overcome. Romeo Langford, the top-ranked shooting guard in the 2018 class, looks to be as good as advertised offensively, averaging 18.8 points per game on 52 percent from the field. Indiana will come to Cameron Indoor Stadium to play Duke on Nov. 27. 

Complete rankings: