Unbeaten Duke faces its toughest test. A road victory over No. 7 Michigan State could finally silence doubters and secure their elite status.
Duke Can Send A Loud Message Nationally With A Road Win At Michigan State.
Even though the Blue Devils were ranked fourth in this week's AP poll, there seems to be a hesitancy to view them in college basketball's top tier. Despite beating ranked Arkansas on Thanksgiving Day, Michigan still climbed above them to the No. 3 slot.
These doubts would all subside if Duke (9-0) wins at No. 7 Michigan State (8-0) on Saturday afternoon.
Seven of the unbeaten Spartans' eight victories have been by double-figure point margins. They have taken down three ranked teams — Arkansas, Kentucky and North Carolina — entering this weekend's clash at the Breslin Center.
While the Blue Devils are off to their first 9-0 start since 2017-2018, none of those wins have are as impressive as those the nation's top three teams have collected thus far.
No. 1 Purdue survived a road thriller at Alabama and then rolled Texas Tech by 30 points in the Bahamas. No. 2 Arizona possesses a Top 5 win at UConn and earned a neutral-site result against Florida. No. 3 Michigan was on a demolition tour in Las Vegas last week. It beat San Diego State by 40 points, Auburn by 30 and Gonzaga by 40.
Meanwhile, none of Duke's three neutral-site conquests — Texas in Charlotte, Kansas at MSG and Arkansas in Chicago — were ranked higher than No. 25 in this week's poll. The Blue Devils have played a true road game, but it was a mismatch against Army.
Even against reigning-champion Florida on Tuesday, Duke spoiled a 15-point lead at Cameron Indoor Stadium and needed a game-winning triple by Isaiah Evans to hold on. The most alarming stat was how the Gators grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, while the Blue Devils had just 23 defensive boards.
With the post in mind, the key matchup in East Lansing on Saturday might be Duke's bigs facing the Spartan tandem of walking double-double Jaxon Kohler and 6-foot-11 Carson Cooper. Forwards Coen Carr and Cam Ward are also active on the glass and average 5.1 rebounds apiece.
A little more than a week after earning college basketball's largest regular-season TV rating since 1993, Duke returns to network television on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on FOX and tip-off time is set for noon.