Duke men’s basketball has climbed to the No. 1 spot for the first time this season in this week’s AP Poll, following two secure victories and chaos in other conferences. The Blue Zone is here to break down the drastic shifts in the rankings and what they mean heading into conference tournaments:
Duke reaches the top
For the first time since Nov. 29, 2021, Duke is ranked No. 1 in this week’s AP Poll. Despite a more than three-year drought, the Blue Devils hold the record for the most weeks ranked as the No. 1 team in the country of all time. Now holding the top spot for 146 different weeks over the last 40 years, Duke basketball’s historical reputation speaks for itself.
The Blue Devils started the week off strong with a dominant 93-60 win against Wake Forest at Cameron Indoor Stadium. After the scare of narrowly defeating the Demon Deacons on the road in late January, confidence in a Duke victory heading into the rematch was not solid. However, the slight stumble against Wake Forest earlier in the season did not influence the Blue Devils during their last home game of the season. Head coach Jon Scheyer notably achieved another victory of his own — staying undefeated at home for the second time in his first three years in the role.
Five days later and just 10 miles from their home in Durham, the Blue Devils faced the rival Tar Heels at the Dean Smith Center. While North Carolina’s mid-game surge cast doubts on an easy Duke victory, Scheyer’s squad stood unfazed and closed out the regular season with an 82-69 win. The Blue Devils’ defense defined the game and season, and it helped them obtain 52 of 61 votes from the national media panel for this week’s top spot.
Following Duke’s lone ACC loss at Littlejohn Coliseum against Clemson Feb. 8, the program went full steam ahead to plow through the regular season’s last eight games by an average margin of victory of 29.2 points. With their final win against their rivals, the Blue Devils secured the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament in Charlotte. If Duke can conclude its conference postseason with the same fervor it is playing with now, the squad could end up as the NCAA Tournament’s top overall seed.
Tigers tumble
Following two losses in one week, Auburn has finally lost its crown. Surpassed by both Duke and Houston after remaining at the top for eight weeks straight, the Tigers dropped to the No. 3 spot this week. Although back-to-back losses usually don’t bode well so close to conference tournaments, Auburn remains the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament and has secured a double-bye, just like the Blue Devils in their conference.
Earlier in the week, Auburn hit the road to face Texas A&M, a team ranked No. 22 at the time. After the Aggies lost four straight games, they returned home and stunned the Tigers with an 83-72 win. The victory marked Texas A&M’s first-ever win against an opponent in the No. 1 spot. The Aggies held the lead for the entire game, led by Zhuric Phelps and Wade Taylor IV, who scored 19 and 16 points, respectively. Auburn’s Johni Broome, a contender for Player of the Year alongside Cooper Flagg, was limited to just eight points and seven rebounds. Texas A&M moved up eight spots to No. 14, and secured the No. 5 slot in the SEC Tournament.
Broome makes or breaks a Tiger win — as demonstrated in their showing against Texas A&M. However, even on his best day, Auburn can still fall short. The much-anticipated rematch against Alabama rematch last week was long awaited. After the Tigers won 94-85 on the road in February, they were eager to host the next in-state rivalry game. In Broome’s 43 minutes of play in the overtime contest, he racked up an impressive 34 points, eight rebounds, five blocks and three steals. Yet, the Tigers fell short when Alabama’s Mark Sears sank a buzzer-beater floater from the top of the paint to steal the victory. With the win, Alabama rose to No. 5 in the AP Poll and is ranked No. 3 in the SEC Tournament. Florida sits between Auburn and Alabama in the No. 4 spot in the poll and took the second seed for the conference tournament.
Big Ten breaks down
The Big Ten boasts seven teams in the Top 25 this week, mirroring the SEC’s representation. Despite the same number of teams, the Big Ten’s squads fall short of the SEC’s teams' glory. Michigan State is the only team in the conference in the top 10, with Maryland following behind at No. 11. The remaining five Big Ten teams in the top 25 are ranked No. 18 and beyond.
The Spartans’ dominance in the Big Ten should not go unnoticed — they have posted a clean slate of victories in their eight most recent games against Quad 1 opponents. Michigan State, currently ranked No. 1 for the conference tournament, makes the Big Ten look weak right now. And maybe it is. Wisconsin dropped six places to No. 18 after losing to unranked Penn State by 11 points at home Saturday. After an 88-80 loss to Illinois, Purdue moved to No. 20 in this week’s poll. Despite reaching No. 7 in early February, the Boilermakers have struggled with turnovers in the Big Ten and have lost five of their last seven games.
The conference welcomed Oregon and Illinois back into the poll at No. 23 and No. 24, respectively. Arizona, after losing to Kansas, and Mississippi, after losing to Texas and Arkansas, dropped from the poll, leaving room for the two Big Ten teams to join.
Full rankings
- Duke
- Houston
- Auburn
- Florida
- Alabama
- St. John’s
- Michigan State
- Tennessee
- Texas Tech
- Clemson
- Maryland
- Iowa State
- Louisville
- Texas A&M
- Kentucky
- Memphis
- BYU
- Wisconsin
- Saint Mary’s
- Purdue
- Missouri
- Michigan
- Oregon
- Illinois
- Marquette
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Ariella Maroni is a Trinity first-year and a staff reporter for the news department.