NCAA Basketball Power Rankings: Seton Hall soars, Auburn drops

Duke went 0-2 during this past week and dropped a significant number of spots in my rankings as a result. This is largely due to the fact that falling to Clemson on the road represented the team’s second head-scratching loss of the season (SFA at home). Can the Blue Devils be trusted as a national title contender if they continue to lay eggs against non-tournament teams? I’m not sure.

Additionally, dropping their following game at home to Louisville was a tad surprising as well. While losing to the Cardinals is nothing to be ashamed about, I had expected the Blue Demons to come out and make a bit of a statement in response to their loss earlier in the week.

I am still a believer in Duke as arguably the best team in the country but this past week made me a bit more wary. The Blue Devils are extremely talented and boast a balanced attack but are quite young. Their ceiling is the highest in the country and hopefully they will be able to reach it by the time March arrives.

Duke’s next two games will both come at home against Miami-FL and Pittsburgh. The Blue Devils should absolutely roll through those two games before embarking on a three-game road trip against three of the conference’s lowest-rated teams. This will be a nice stretch for Duke to potentially add to its resume as road wins are rewarded handsomely in the current NET Quadrant system.