Kentucky Wildcats, Duke Blue Devils Separating From Pack
By Jacob Rude
With the Duke Blue Devil’s win on Monday night over Toledo and the Kentucky Wildcats’ win this weekend over Louisville, the two elite programs are officially running away from the rest of the college basketball pack.
Combined, these two programs currently sit at 24-0 and have had just one game this year decided by less than 10 points (UK’s eight-point win Saturday over Louisville). They have arguably the two best NBA prospects going into the draft in June in Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns. They have unarguably two of the most loaded rosters this year and the most talent on two teams.
Live Feed
Wildcat Blue Nation
In the latest polls, Duke and Kentucky’s voting totals reflected the fact they’re pulling away. Duke received 102 more points in the AP poll than 3rd place Virginia. To put it into comparison, 4th to 7th place in the same poll were separated by 145 points. In the coaches poll, which has a far less point total, Duke and Kentucky are the only teams to eclipse the 700-point mark. Last week, #2 ranked Duke and #3 Arizona were separated by just 18 points. This week, Duke and Virginia 46 points separate the two schools.
Away from the polls, it’s clear that Mike Krzyzewski and John Calipari have the two top teams in America. We’ve seen Duke walk into Wisconsin and dominate the Badgers, who were ranked #4 at the time. We’ve watched Arizona struggle multiple times this year before eventually falling on the road to UNLV. At this point, only Virginia and Villanova found themselves undefeated and in the top 10.
However, combined, the two sides have played just three ranked teams this year, none of them inside the top 10. Duke and Kentucky have played six ranked teams and four ranked inside the top ten. Few teams have had the same tough schedule as these two (with Kentucky even a big step ahead of Duke) and no team has been as successful as these two.
More from Busting Brackets
- San Diego State Basketball: Projected starting lineup and depth chart for 2023-24
- NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top 4 teams for PF Jaxon Johnson
- NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top 5 teams for top-100 SG Larry Johnson
- Oregon Basketball: Projected starting lineup and depth chart for 2023-24
- Big East Basketball: Ranking all head coaches going into 2023-24 season
Suffocating defenses have led the way to their starts, which is a great sign of the success being sustainable. The Wildcats currently rank 2nd in scoring defense while Duke is 8th in three-point field goal defense. While Kentucky thrives on their big bodies to make life a nightmare inside the paint, Duke uses their perimeter pressure to create havoc and force the tempo of games.
Certainly with conference play starting, these two sides will be tested. However, right now, it looks like a two-horse race to Indianapolis this season with little to stop the Blue Devils or Wildcats.