15. Duke (3-1)
While Cooper Flagg is going to be the top story at Duke this season, the bottom line is that there’s a plethora of young and exciting talent on this roster. The Blue Devils enter another season of high expectations even with several moving pieces, with the assumption that Flagg and those other young pieces grow and develop as the season progresses. The early results have had outstanding moments, but it’s clearly still a work in progress.
We say that because the Blue Devils lost their first game of the season this week, falling 77-72 against Kentucky at the Champions Classic. Flagg was phenomenal with 26 points and 11 rebounds on the national stage, but Duke blew a 9-point halftime lead and didn’t have enough in the end. Fortunately, this team was more than prepared for a bounce-back effort, demolishing Wofford in an 86-35 Saturday afternoon victory. Tyrese Proctor led all scorers with 15 points.
It’s no shocker that Duke is going to run all over weaker mid-major foes, though the loss to Kentucky shows initial signs of concern. We’re not panicking; the Blue Devils are a relatively young squad that’s still learning how to play fluidly with one another, even if Kentucky outworked and outcoached them late in that contest. Duke pushes forward onto their next major challenge, as a road trip at Arizona poses a major threat late next week.