The Duke Blue Devils didn’t play basketball last week, so predictably, they stayed No. 4 in the USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll on Monday.
In fact, each of the top nine teams remained still in this week’s edition of the national rankings. The Tennessee Volunteers, still undefeated through 12 games, picked up 20 first-place votes to stay ahead of the Auburn Tigers (11 first-place votes). The Iowa State Cyclones remain 43 points ahead of the Blue Devils for third place with the Florida Gators rounding out the top five.
[autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates have won six straight games now with a chance at a seventh against Virginia Tech on Tuesday. The Blue Devils are allowing 58.5 points per game, the seventh-fewest of any team despite facing Auburn, Kansas, and the Kentucky Wildcats. The freshman forward is averaging 16.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks through his first 12 collegiate games.
Duke remains peerless in the ACC as well with no other members of the conference within the top 25. With five early North Carolina Tar Heels losses and some recent slips for the Clemson Tigers, the Blue Devils have a straight shot at head coach Jon Scheyer’s first regular-season conference crown.