Duke men's basketball falls out of AP Poll for first time since 2020-21 season

Freshman center Kyle Filipowski looks on during Duke's defeat to Clemson.
Freshman center Kyle Filipowski looks on during Duke's defeat to Clemson.

More often than not, Duke has been the hunted. Now, it has to play hunter.

With the release of the Week 11 AP Poll Monday afternoon, the Blue Devils, previously ranked 24th, fell out of the national top 25 following a couple of difficult weeks. A 24-point hammering at the hands of N.C. State led Duke head coach Jon Scheyer's team to slip from No. 16 a week ago, and Saturday evening's defeat at Clemson condemned the group to its first unranked position since a turbulent 2020-21 campaign. That season, then-head coach Mike Krzyzewski's team missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1995.

Duke received 24 points in Monday's poll, checking in at 33rd nationwide.

A narrow loss to then-No. 6 Kansas and close wins against then-No. 25 Ohio State—currently ranked 16th in KenPom—and current No. 8 Xavier indicated that the Blue Devils (13-5, 4-3 in the ACC) possessed the talent to hang with college basketball's elite bunch, but a dip in form at the tail end of 2022 and to start 2023 has evidently removed a bit of confidence for voters.

Duke's tumble from the rankings comes as ACC rivals Virginia, Miami and Clemson find positions inside the top 25. The Blue Devils were one victim of an off-brand weekend in which 11 ranked teams faltered, and will have to work from the outside looking in as they look to reestablish themselves. That task begins with the 17th-ranked Hurricanes Saturday at 12 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Complete rankings:

1. Houston

2. Kansas

3. Purdue

4. Alabama

5. UCLA

6. Gonzaga

7. Texas

8. Xavier

9. Tennessee

10. Virginia

11. Arizona

12. Iowa State

13. Kansas State

14. TCU

15. UConn

16. Auburn

17. Miami

18. Charleston

19. Clemson

20. Marquette

21. Baylor

22. Providence

23. Rutgers

24. Florida Atlantic

25. Arkansas


Andrew Long profile
Andrew Long | Recruitment/Social Chair

Andrew Long is a Trinity senior and recruitment/social chair of The Chronicle's 120th volume. He was previously sports editor for Volume 119.

Discussion

Share and discuss “Duke men's basketball falls out of AP Poll for first time since 2020-21 season” on social media.