NCAA Basketball: North Carolina, Gonzaga still sit atop updated top 25 ranking

7. Duke (2-0)

Two games in, the Jon Scheyer era at Duke is going according to plan, no matter how weird it seems. It’s going to take more than two blowout games for the Blue Devils to adjust to Coach K’s retirement, but the focus shouldn’t be on the past. We’re looking forward, and this Duke team is full of young talent that could cause some major noise this year.

Opening night saw a 71-44 win over Jacksonville, a game in which several freshmen had solid debuts. Mark Mitchell lead the Blue Devils with 18 points while Kyle Filipowski had 10 points and 12 rebounds in the win. Four days later, the Blue Devils won another laugher, triumphing 84-38 over South Carolina Upstate. Filipowski led the way again, this time with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Dereck Lively II made his season debut and newcomer Jacob Grandison added 12 points off the bench.

This team is still coming together and we may not yet know how these rotations will work out in the coming weeks and months. There are a plethora of elite freshman prospects, with Filipowski and Mitchell in particular looking impressive to this point. This Duke offense is going to be a machine again this season, especially with all those talented pieces in the frontcourt. We’ll just have to see if they put their best foot forward this week, as they’ll head to the Champions Classic for a major matchup with Kansas.