After a run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament, the Duke men’s basketball team jumped up five spots to ninth in the final USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll released on Tuesday.
The Blue Devils finished with 27 wins for the season, including an upset of No. 1 seed Houston in the Sweet 16. The run to the regional final resulted in the fourth-biggest rise of any team in the rankings.
NC State, who beat the Blue Devils to win the South region as an 11-seed, jumped 20 spots to 13th. Alabama, another Final Four team, rose 14 spots to fourth in the rankings, and San Diego State leaped seven spots to 18th.
Connecticut won its second straight national title to finish atop the list, with Purdue, Houston, Alabama, and Tennessee all cementing their spots in the top five.
North Carolina, the No. 1 seed who lost to the Crimson Tide in the Sweet 16, dropped one spot to the sixth spot in the rankings. Clemson, the fourth and final ACC team on the list, went from unranked to 15th.