Duke basketball rises to No. 2 in the USA TODAY Sports coaches poll

On By Littum

Despite 12 straight wins, the Duke Blue Devils did not receive a first-place finish in Monday’s updated USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll.

However, Cooper Flagg and his teammates moved up one spot to no. 2 with 739 points in the poll, just behind Auburn Tigers.

Duke handed Auburn its only loss of the season to this point back in early December, but the Tigers have yet to drop a game in a loaded SEC field. They took 30 of a possible 31 first-place nominations (No. 4 Iowa State took the last).

The Blue Devils may not match Auburn’s conference power, but what Duke lacks in elite competition it makes up for with massive margins of victory. The team from Durham has won nine of its last dozen games by more than 20 points and beat Miami and Boston College by a combined 60 in last week’s games.

The Louisville Cardinals nearly joined Duke in the top 25, first in the receiving vote column with 43 points, but the Blue Devils remain the conference’s sole representative.

Check out the complete USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll below.

Ranking Team Record Points Change
1 Auburn 17-1 774 (30) –
2 Duke 16-2 739 +1
3 Alabama 15-3 672 +2
4 Iowa State 15-2 668 (1) -2
5 Houston 14-3 623 +3
6 Florida 16-2 615 -2
7 Tennessee 16-2 584 -1
8 Michigan State 16-2 558 +4
9 Kentucky 14-4 478 –
10 Marquette 15-3 473 -3
11 Kansas 13-4 467 -1
12 Purdue 15-4 452 +3
13 Texas A&M 14-4 383 -2
14 Mississippi State 15-3 341 +4
15 Oregon 15-3 309 -1
16 Miss Ole 15-3 272 +5
17 Illinois 13-5 266 +3
18 UConn 13-5 230 -5
19 Wisconsin 15-3 194 +8
20 Michigan 14-4 180 -1
21 St. John’s 16-3 167 +5
22 Memphis 14-4 130 -5
23 West Virginia 13-4 107 +2
24 Missouri 15-3 77 +14
25 Texas Tech 13-4 53 +8

Dropped out

no. 16 Gonzaga; no. 22 Utah State; no. 23 Georgia; no. 24 Baylor

Receiving votes

Louisville 43; Gonzaga 43; Georgia 39; Clemson 28; Utah State 26; Saint Mary’s 25; Vanderbilt 16; Oklahoma 16; Maryland 8; Creighton 7; Arizona 6; UCLA 2; UC Irvine 2; Baylor 2;