Beating the No. 1 team in college basketball, turns out, will win you the support of coaches across the country. The Duke Blue Devils did as much Friday by dispatching of the top-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs, 84-81, and were rewarded by coaches in the ballot box by supplanting the Zags at No. 1 in the Coaches Poll that updated on Monday, bringing in 19 of a possible 31 first-place votes. Duke also came in at No. 1 in the AP poll earlier Monday.
Gonzaga dropped only two spots to No. 3 after the loss, which was its first of the season. It’s the first time since Nov. 12, 2020 that it was not No. 1 in a regular-season Coaches Poll ranking. It’s the first time Duke has been No. 1 in the poll since Nov. 25, 2019, after it opened the season 6-0.
Duke’s 7-0 start to the season has been book-ended thus far by two terrific wins on the resume. It opened the season with a win over No. 10 Kentucky, 79-71, and its win over Gonzaga was easily the most impressive victory by any team in the sport this season (so far). Tests will come quick, though, with a road trip vs. Ohio State on deck Tuesday as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge before a three-game homestand of tune-ups ahead of league play.
The rest of this week’s Coaches Poll also saw some shifting around throughout, with Purdue up to No. 2, Baylor up to No. 4 and UCLA down to No. 5. Villanova, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas and Kentucky make up the rest of the new-look top-10.
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Coaches Poll
The top 25 teams in the USA Today college basketball Coaches Poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sunday, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:
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| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke | 7-0 | 761 | 6 |
| 2 | Purdue | 6-0 | 742 | 4 |
| 3 | Gonzaga | 6-1 | 706 | 1 |
| 4 | Baylor | 7-0 | 693 | 5 |
| 5 | UCLA | 6-1 | 627 | 2 |
| 6 | Villanova | 4-2 | 563 | 7 |
| 7 | Kansas | 5-1 | 524 | 3 |
| 8 | Texas | 4-1 | 500 | 8 |
| 9 | Arkansas | 6-0 | 473 | 12 |
| 10 | Kentucky | 5-1 | 436 | 13 |
| 11 | Arizona | 6-0 | 431 | 19 |
| 12 | Florida | 6-0 | 425 | 24 |
| 13 | Brigham Young | 6-0 | 399 | 18 |
| 14 | Houston | 5-1 | 321 | 11 |
| 15 | Tennessee | 4-1 | 304 | 17 |
| 16 | Alabama | 6-1 | 231 | 9 |
| 17 | UConn | 6-1 | 222 | 21 |
| 18 | USC | 6-0 | 205 | 25 |
| 19 | Memphis | 5-1 | 184 | 10 |
| 20 | Auburn | 5-1 | 145 | 22 |
| 21 | Wisconsin | 5-1 | 140 | NR |
| 22 | Michigan State | 5-2 | 138 | NR |
| 23 | Iowa State | 6-0 | 134 | NR |
| 24 | Michigan | 4-2 | 123 | 13 |
| 25 | St. Bonaventure | 5-1 | 96 | 16 |
Others receiving votes: Seton Hall 86; Texas Tech 68; LSU 66; Illinois 65; Ohio State 43; Marquette 42; Colorado St. 38; Indiana 29; Iowa 28; Xavier 25; Florida State 22; Utah St. 13; Providence 11; West Virginia 5; San Francisco 5; Saint Louis 3; Oklahoma State 3.
