The Indiana Hoosiers remained No. 1 in the Associated Press' Top 25 college basketball poll on Monday, but the team has a new neighbor lurking.
The Hoosiers received 47 out of 65 first-place votes, while the Duke Blue Devils moved up to the No. 2 spot after an impressive performance at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas. Duke received 18 first-place votes form the panel
Duke defeated the former No. 2 team, the Louisville Cardinals, in the tournament championship game 76-71 on Saturday. Sophomore guard Quinn Cook won MVP honors and scored 15 points in the title game.
"It was great," Cook said to the Associated Press following the game. "My mom was supposed to go back to work. But she stayed for the game. I just wanted to play well for my team."
The Blue Devils are 6-0 and has won each game by at least a five-point margin, including a 75-68 win on Nov. 13 against defending national champion Kentucky.
"Respect is not something you can give. It's earned," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I think since the Georgia State game, Quinn has earned the respect of everyone. What he did in the Kentucky game, everyone talks about a kid getting confidence. It's when a team has confidence in its point guard that you take off. This team has great confidence in Quinn and he has earned it."
The Blue Devils will face a stiff test on Tuesday night, as the team hosts No. 4 Ohio State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenege.
The Michigan Wolverines moved up one spot to No. 3 after defeating the Kansas State Wildcats 71-57 in the NIT Season Tip-Off championship game on Friday. Tim Hardaway, Jr. scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the title game on his way to winning the MVP award for the tournament.
"This is what he works for. He works hard at not just being a shooter but to have an in-between game, be a rebounder," Michigan coach John Beilein said to the Associated Press after the game. "The biggest thing is his work ethic. That just doesn't happen. He's got great DNA, but DNA doesn't get you there alone."
The Wolverines are one of the best shooting teams in the country this season, ranking fourth with a 53 percent field-goal percentage. Michigan will also participate in the ACC/Big Ten Challenege, hosting No. 18 NC State on Tuesday night.
The top five was rounded out by Ohio State and Louisville. Syracuse, Florida, Kentucky, Arizona and Kansas followed behind in the top ten.
There were some new additions to the rankings this week, with Georgetown, Minnesota, Illinois and New Mexico joining the top 25.
Georgetown came in at No. 20 following a 72-50 victory over Mount Saint Mary's, while Minnesota is ranked at No. 21 after defeating Stanford 66-63 on Saturday.
UCLA and Memphis both fell out of the rankings after losing twice last week, while Connecticut and Baylor dropped after losing one game each.
The Hoosiers still look like the strongest team in the nation after winning 101-53 over Ball State, but will face their first true test on Tuesday night against No. 14 North Carolina in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Indiana is ranked 3rd in the nation in points per game and is shooting the ball at a highly effective rate, converting over 52 percent of their shots. Cody Zeller has been stellar this season and is leading the team in scoring with 15.2 points per game.
New Mexico is the lowest ranked undefeated team, coming in at No. 25 after posting a 6-0 record. All of the top four teams are undefeated, while Kentucky, Kansas and Louisville are the only top 10 teams with one loss.
The USA Today Coaches Poll had the exact same rankings in the top 10 as the AP, apart from Louisville and Syracuse, who were switched to fifth and sixth respectively. Duke received four first-place votes in the coaches poll, while the Hoosiers had 27.
