College basketball rankings: Duke rallies late in ACC opener vs. Georgia Tech, bounces back after first loss
The Blue Devils survived a scare vs. the Yellow Jackets and are No. 8 in the first Top 25 And 1 rankings of 2026
By
Gary Parrish
•
1 min read
Duke opened ACC play Wednesday with an 85-79 win over Georgia Tech. So the Blue Devils are now 12-1 on the season; that's great. But it was hard not to notice -- after Duke had to overcome a seven-point deficit in the second half to avoid being upset at home as a 27.5-point favorite -- that the Blue Devils allowed their opponent to shoot above 53% for the second straight game, and that's obviously not sustainable for any team with real national-championship aspirations.
Man-to-man, Duke couldn't guard.
Eventually, Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer switched to a zone.
"We had to do something," Scheyer explained after the game. "I mean, they were in a rhythm for 25 minutes, (shooting) about 70% from the field and getting whatever they wanted. It was a move out of desperation, more than anything else."
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Isaac Trotter
If the defense was the bad news from Wednesday's win, the good news was that, while starting together for the first time this season, the Boozer twins combined for 39 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and five steals. Cameron Boozer, the leading candidate for CBS Sports National Player of the Year, got 26 of those 39 points. That means he's now scored at least 23 in six of the Blue Devils' past seven contests.
Duke is No. 8 in Thursday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college college basketball rankings, where Michigan remains No. 1 for the 23rd consecutive day. Next up for the Blue Devils is another game against another sub-100 KenPom team (Florida State). In a scheduling quirk, there are only three sub-100 KenPom teams in the ACC (Florida State, Georgia Tech and Boston College), and Duke is opening the ACC portion of its schedule with games against two of them (Georgia Tech and Florida State). That's a boring way to start conference play. But the trip to FSU will be followed by Tuesday's game at Louisville. So things will get interesting again soon enough.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
1
Florida
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Morez Johnson Jr. finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds in Monday's 112-71 win over McNeese. The Wolverines' next game is Friday against USC. | -- | 12-0 |
| 2 |  | Koa Peat finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds in Monday's 99-71 win over South Dakota State. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday at Utah. | -- | 13-0 |
| 3 |  | Joshua Jefferson finished with 23 points and eight rebounds in Monday's 89-61 win over Houston Christian. The Cyclones' next game is Friday against West Virginia. | -- | 13-0 |
| 4 |  | Alex Karaban finished with 19 points and two steals in Wednesday's 90-67 win at Xavier. The Huskies' next game is Sunday against Marquette. | -- | 13-1 |
| 5 |  | AJ Dybantsa finished with 33 points and 10 assists in Monday's 109-81 win over Eastern Washington. The Cougars' next game is Saturday at Kansas State. | -- | 12-1 |
| 6 |  | Fletcher Loyer finished with 19 points and two steals in Monday's 101-60 win over Kent State. The Boilermakers' next game is Saturday at Wisconsin. | -- | 12-1 |
| 7 |  | Jalen Warley finished with 22 points and five assists in Tuesday's 99-93 win at San Diego. The Zags' next game is Friday against Seattle. | -- | 14-1 |
| 8 |  | Cameron Boozer finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds in Wednesday's 85-79 win over Georgia Tech. The Blue Devils' next game is Saturday at Florida State. | -- | 12-1 |
| 9 |  | Jeremy Fears finished with 21 points and 11 assists in Monday's 114-97 win over Cornell. The Spartans' next game is Friday at Nebraska. | -- | 12-1 |
| 10 |  | Caleb Wilson finished with 22 points and six assists in Tuesday's 79-66 win over Florida State. The Tar Heels' next game is Saturday at SMU. | -- | 13-1 |
| 11 |  | Flory Bidunga finished with 18 points and eight rebounds in Monday's 90-61 win over Davidson. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday at UCF. | -- | 10-3 |
| 12 |  | Kingston Flemings finished with 15 points and five assists in Monday's 69-60 win over Middle Tennessee. The Cougars' next game is Saturday at Cincinnati. | -- | 12-1 |
| 13 |  | Pryce Sandfort finished with 19 points and two steals in Tuesday's 86-55 win over New Hampshire. The Cornhuskers' next game is Friday against Michigan State. | -- | 13-0 |
| 14 |  | Tyler Tanner finished with 23 points and five rebounds in Monday's 96-53 win over New Haven. The Commodores' next game is Saturday at South Carolina. | -- | 13-0 |
| 15 |  | Aden Holloway finished with 26 points and seven assists in Monday's 102-78 win over Yale. The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday against Kentucky. | -- | 10-3 |
| 16 |  | Darius Acuff Jr. finished with 17 points and six assists in Monday's 103-74 win over James Madison. The Razorbacks' next game is Saturday against Tennessee. | -- | 10-3 |
| 17 |  | Jack Davis finished with 15 points and one block in Monday's 90-55 win over Southern. The Illini's next game is Saturday against Penn State. | -- | 10-3 |
| 18 |  | Christian Anderson finished with 29 points and six rebounds in Sunday's 87-57 win over Winthrop. The Red Raiders' next game is Saturday against Oklahoma State. | -- | 10-3 |
| 19 |  | Ja'Kobi Gillespie finished with 21 points and eight assists in Tuesday's 105-54 win over South Carolina State. The Vols' next game is Saturday at Arkansas. | -- | 10-3 |
| 20 |  | Ryan Conwell finished with 26 points and four assists in Tuesday's 90-70 win at California. The Cardinals' next game is Friday at Stanford. | -- | 11-2 |
| 21 |  | Kam Williams finished with 26 points and one steal in Tuesday's 99-85 win over Bellarmine. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday at Alabama. | -- | 9-4 |
| 22 |  | Bennett Stirtz finished with 22 points and eight assists in Monday's 90-62 win over UMass Lowell. The Hawkeyes' next game is Saturday against UCLA. | -- | 11-2 |
| 23 |  | Dedan Thomas Jr. finished with 22 points and 12 assists in Monday's 90-62 win over Southern Miss. The Tigers' next game is Saturday at Texas A&M. | 1 | 12-1 |
| 24 |  | Kevin Overton finished with 23 points and four steals in Monday's 106-65 win over Queens University. The Tigers' next game is Saturday at Georgia. | 1 | 9-4 |
| 25 |  | Zuby Ejiofor finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 88-69 win at Georgetown. The Red Storm's next game is Saturday against Providence. | 1 | 9-4 |
| 26 |  | Alex Condon finished with 17 points and nine rebounds in Monday's 94-72 win over Dartmouth. The Gators' next game is Saturday at Missouri. | NR | 9-4 |
In: Florida | Out: Virginia
