The Duke Blue Devils dropped one spot in the men’s basketball AP Poll on Monday, but they stayed just within the top five thanks to their 8-2 record.
Duke only played once last week, a 72-46 home win over Incarnate Word on Tuesday. [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates took some time to pull away from the Cardinals, only leading by two points with about six minutes left in the first half, and the unconvincing start opened the door for the Kentucky Wildcats to swap places with them at No. 4.
Flagg and the Blue Devils lost to Kentucky earlier in the season, but Duke’s home win over the Auburn Tigers boosted it back toward the top of the rankings. The Tigers, another one-loss SEC team, stayed in place at No. 2 behind the undefeated Tennessee Volunteers, and the Iowa State Cyclones hung tight at No. 3 to complete the top five.
The Clemson Tigers, the only other ACC team within the top 25, fell nine spots to the very last place in the rankings after their second loss.