Mighty Duke Basketball Machine Capitalizes on Gift in Rankings

The No. 2-ranked Iowa State Cyclones (15-2, 5-1 Big 12) suffered a 64-57 road loss to the unranked West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday evening. Hours later, Duke basketball extended its winning streak to 12 games, the program's longest since its 2014-15 national championship campaign.

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Now, in light of the Cyclones' loss and the utter dominance on display by the No. 3 Blue Devils (16-2, 8-0 ACC) in outscoring the Boston College Eagles (9-9, 1-6 ACC), 48-29, in the second half en route to an 88-63 road victory, Jon Scheyer's third Duke basketball squad looks like a lock to rank No. 2 when the AP Top 25 Poll updates on Monday afternoon.

And one could make an argument for the Blue Devils and their Cooper Flagg show to take over the top spot.

After all, Duke received its first first-place vote of the season this week. Plus, it's still worth remembering that Scheyer's bunch is responsible for the lone loss showing up in the record of the No. 1 Auburn Tigers (17-1, 5-0 SEC).

Sure, the Tigers went 2-0 this week, beginning with an impressive 88-66 beatdown of the No. 15 Mississippi State Bulldogs at home on Tuesday night. But they had to squeak out a 70-68 road win over the No. 23 Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday.

Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, who have been the ACC's lone representative in the AP Top 25 Poll for four straight weeks, their conference has given them zero help when it comes to opportunities to beat more ranked opponents. So, for now, their last contest against a ranked foe remains the aced test at home way back on Dec. 4, their 84-78 win over none other than Auburn.

Duke last ranked No. 2 in the 2023-24 preseason. It last ranked No. 1 in late November of the 2021-22 season, Mike Krzyzewski's last at the helm.

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