Blowout wins usually lift a team higher in the rankings, not push them down. The Jon Scheyer-led Duke Blue Devils are playing the 2025-26 NCAA season as one of their best, with no losses in the season so far. However, a recent change in the AP poll has left everyone concerned and wondering what exactly the voters are seeing.

Despite winning all four games, including their last two by a combined 93 points and scoring 214 points themselves, Duke still slipped from No. 4 to No. 5 in the newest AP rankings. They’ve taken every game with an average winning margin of 37.25 points. On paper, nothing suggests they should’ve dropped, especially with their deep rotation, sharp shooting, and overwhelming defensive pressure.

In just their latest game against the Indiana State Sycamore, Blue Devils’ star player and freshman Cameron Boozer wrote history, by becoming the first major-conference freshman since Carmelo Anthony to record a 35-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist game with one or fewer turnovers.

But the AP voters still pushed Arizona ahead. The Wildcats jumped into Duke’s spot after earning two first-place votes, helped by their win against then-No. 15 UCLA. Duke, on the other hand, hasn’t played a ranked team yet, which seems to be the main reason for their drop.

Even so, one member of the 61-person media panel did place Duke at No. 1. And the Blue Devils remain the ACC’s highest-ranked team, sitting above Louisville (6), UNC (18), and NC State (25). Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Stanford also picked up votes. Defensively, they rank 15th nationally in scoring defense and have held every opponent below their season scoring average to continue to force more turnovers than assists in every matchup. On top of that, the Blue Devils boast a top-10 offense and defense on KenPom and sit as the No. 1 overall team in the entire KenPom ratings.

However, Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils will play against the No. 24 Kansas Jayhawks in their next game in just a few hours. From there, the schedule only gets more brutal:

• No. 21 Arkansas on November 27th.
• No. 10 Florida on December 2nd.
• No. 17 Michigan State on December 5th.
• And, multiple top-25 ACC opponents are coming later in conference play.

Duke Blue Devils vs Kansas Jayhawks: First big test of the season for Jon Scheyer

No. 5 Duke will travel to Madison Square Garden to face No. 24 Kansas in the Champions Classic. So far, Duke leads the all-time series with 8-7, but the Jayhawks have taken six of the last eight meetings.

Last season, Kansas narrowly edged Duke 75-72 in a back-and-forth Vegas showdown, and the stage is set for another tightly contested matchup. The Jayhawks come in at 3-1 this season, bouncing back from a road loss to North Carolina with wins over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Princeton. However, they’ll be without star freshman Darryn Peterson, the top-ranked 2025 recruit, who is sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Cameron Boozer, Dame Sarr, and Maliq Brown anchor the frontcourt, while guards Caleb Foster and Cayden Boozer push the pace and generate chaos for opposing offenses. The Jayhawks will need a better offensive strategy to be able to win this game. Or else, the Men in Blue will exploit their defensive gaps.

Can the Blue Devils maintain their dominance and show the AP voters they belong in the top four, or will Kansas pull off the upset? We will find out soon!