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RALEIGH, N.C. – Duke continues to find his way to number 1.
The Blue Devils recovered top spot in the AP Top 25 on Monday for the third time this season. They reached 1st place. Duke earned 58 of 64 first-place votes to climb one spot and replace Tennessee, who had spent four weeks at 1, but dropped to fifth after Saturday's loss to Kentucky.
Both schools in Wisconsin fell in this week's poll: Marquette went from No. 10 to No. 11 and the Badgers lost two places from No. 20 to No. 22.
Duke has now passed nearly half of the season's polls (seven out of 16) in first place and has not been ranked fourth since pre-season. The Blue Devils (23-2) – who started with four talented rookies in RJ Barrett, Zion Williamson, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones – have also not lost their game in strength since their loss to Gonzaga in the match Maui Invitational Championship.
Barrett (22.7 points per game) and Williamson (22.4) are the Atlantic Coast Conference's top two scorers, while Jones is the league's second-most ace (5.4). by being one of the best defenders at the ball of the nation.
Duke spent two weeks in first place in November after a dazzling performance in a dazzling victory over Kentucky. The Blue Devils returned to the front row on Christmas Eve and spent another four weeks there. However, they lost after a home defeat to Syracuse while they were playing without Reddish (illness) and they were losing Jones as a result of an injury to the shoulder.
They had to make a comeback after their 23rd goal in the last 10 minutes against Louisville last week to return to the lead this time, just in time for their North Carolina No. 8 rivalry match on Wednesday. .
THE HIGHER LEVEL
Gonzaga (25-2) earned the other six spots in the standings and was second, followed by Virginia and John Calipari's Wildcats, who made a long comeback after falling from second to second place. following the defeat of Duke. as low as No. 19 in mid-December.
Nevada, Michigan, UNC, Houston and Michigan State round out the top 10.
RISING
LSU had the biggest jump of the week, climbing six places to 13th after last week's win in Kentucky. The Tigers (21-4) are tied with Tennessee at the top of the Southeast Conference standings and have lost once since mid-December.
The state of Iowa also made a significant leap, climbing four places to 19th after beating the Big 12, the state of Kansas.
Twelve teams climbed the rankings this week, although LSU and Iowa State are the only ones to have won more than a place or two.
SLIP
Kansas State lost five places in 23rd place for the biggest slide of the week. And number 17 Villanova tied Tennessee's four-place fall following the defeat of the reigning national champions in St. John's at Madison Square Garden.
In all, eight teams dropped on Monday.
STATUS QUO
For the first time this season, no new team has joined the Top 25. And five teams have remained in the same place since the previous poll.
CONFERENCE WATCH
The Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big Ten occupied nearly half of the spots in this week's Top 25.
The ACC has six ranked teams: Duke, Virginia, UNC, 16th Florida State, 18th Louisville and 20th Virginia Tech. The Big Ten also has six with Michigan, State of Michigan, No. 15 Purdue, No. 21 Iowa, No. 22 Wisconsin and No. 24 Maryland.
The Big 12 had four ranked teams – led by pre-season No. 1 and current Kansas No. 12 – the SEC had three and the Big East had two.
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