NCAA Basketball: Duke and Providence Friars leads the Sunday Mailbag
By Bryan Mauro
1. Which team will be dropping out of the top 10 next?– Brandon Carlson (@BrandoTr3y)
This is a great question to start off the mailbag this week. Why? The question is extremely complex and very subjective. If you have ever read anything I write you will know that the rankings especially this early in the season are often meaningless, so if a team is currently in the top 10 they likely won’t end up there and if they do that means they have had one heck of a season and are going to be rewarded for it in the NCAA tournament.
The top 10 as of the last top 10 rankings currently are Gonzaga, Baylor, Iowa, Michigan State, Kansas, Illinois, Houston, Creighton, Villanova, and Duke. Duke is the one team who should be out of the top 10 and that will happen on the next refresh of the rankings that will happen on Monday.
The Blue Devils are not currently playing like a ranked team and have swung and missed on both of their opportunities against other top 10 teams. They have already lost to Michigan State and Illinois. Illinois was a loss they took at home and Duke did not look good at all.
It would not surprise me if Duke isn’t ranked at all, however, I do believe they are a top 25 team and they currently have paused all non-conference games just to reset and get ready for the non-conference.
Coach K has been adamant about starting the season later and pushing the NCAA tournament back but like every coach complied and played when he was scheduled to play. The Blue Devils didn’t look good in their appearances this season and have opted to break and get ready for conference season.
For all of those out there who don’t like the Blue Devils and think they won’t make the tournament. Take a breath and think about who coaches Duke. The second-best coach of all time in Coach K. K is taking this break to get his team ready. The Blue Devils have a ton of freshmen like they do every year and they just need time to grow and gel together.
In a normal year, Duke would be just fine with their talent but this has been far from a normal year. Duke is likely going to be fine but right now they are not a top 10 team.