Duke and Louisville were both in the top five of the preseason AP Top 25 poll and thus among the obvious favorites to win the ACC. Somewhat surprisingly, Florida State has emerged as a real challenger. But if it does come down to the Blue Devils and Cardinals, then Louisville's 79-73 victory inside Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday could be a title-deciding result.
It was impressive stuff from the Cardinals.
They jumped on Duke early and led by 15 points just 10 minutes into the game. Predictably, Duke made a run in the second half, tied the score twice and seemed on the verge of taking control. But the Cardinals ultimately steadied themselves and escaped while handing Duke its second straight loss.
"If you're going to win here, especially with them coming off a loss, you're going to have to figure out a way to be the tougher team for 40 minutes," said Louisville coach Chris Mack.
So now the ACC standings look like this:
- Florida State (6-1)
- Louisville (6-1)
- Duke (5-2)
Those are the only three ACC schools in Sunday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. Florida State is No. 5, Louisville is No. 6 and Duke is No. 13. For what it's worth, if you're curious, KenPom currently projects Duke and Louisville to finish in a first-place tie in the ACC with 16-4 league records. It has Florida State projected to finish one game back at 15-5.
Sunday's Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Killian Tillie finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 92-69 victory over BYU. The Zags have won 12 straight games since losing to Michigan. | -- | 27-8 |
| 2 |  | Jared Butler finished with 17 points and six assists in Saturday's 75-68 victory at Oklahoma State. The Bears are 4-0 in road games with victories at Kansas and Texas Tech. | -- | 24-11 |
| 3 |  | Yanni Wetzell finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds in Saturday's 68-55 victory over Nevada. The Aztecs are 19-0 for the first time since the 2010-11 season. | -- | 26-11 |
| 4 |  | Devon Dotson finished with 21 points, six rebounds and three assists in Saturday's 66-57 victory at Texas. The Jayhawks lead the nation with seven Quadrant 1 wins. | -- | 23-11 |
| 5 |  | M.J. Walker made four 3-pointers and finished with 19 points in Saturday's 83-79 victory at Miami. Florida State is 18-2 in its past 20 ACC regular season games. | 2 | 17-16 |
| 6 |  | Malik Williams got 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench in Saturday's 79-73 victory at Duke. The Cardinals will take a four-game winning streak into Wednesday's game with Georgia Tech. | 3 | 8-24 |
| 7 |  | Jermaine Samuels made four 3-pointers and finished with 19 points in Saturday's 61-55 victory over UConn. The Wildcats will take a four-game winning streak into Tuesday's game with Butler. | 3 | 18-16 |
| 8 |  | Jalen Crutcher buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer Friday to give Dayton a 78-76 victory at Saint Louis. The Flyers will take a seven-game winning streak into Wednesday's game with St. Bonaventure. | 4 | 25-8 |
| 9 |  | Myles Powell scored 29 points and eclipsed the 2,000-point barrier for his career in Saturday's 82-69 victory at St. John's. The Pirates are 6-0 in the Big East for the first time in history. | 4 | 25-12 |
| 10 |  | Cassius Winston finished with six points, five rebounds and four assists in Friday's 67-55 victory over Wisconsin. The Spartans are 6-1 in the Big Ten and alone atop the league standings. | 4 | 20-15 |
| 11 |  | The Bulldogs finished with 17 turnovers and eight assists in Saturday's 79-66 loss at DePaul. Butler will take a two-game losing streak into Tuesday's game at Villanova. | 6 | 18-15 |
| 12 |  | Not a single West Virginia starter scored more than eight points in Saturday's 84-68 loss at Kansas State. The Mountaineers' resume now features two losses to sub-75 KenPom teams. | 1 | 9-23 |
| 13 |  | The Blue Devils missed 19 of the 25 3-pointers they attempted in Saturday's 79-73 loss to Louisville. Duke will take a two-game losing streak into Tuesday's game with Miami. | 5 | 27-9 |
| 14 |  | Jalen Smith finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in Saturday's 57-50 victory over Purdue. All four of Maryland's losses are road losses to top-40 KenPom teams. | 1 | 16-17 |
| 15 |  | Chandler Lawson finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds in Saturday's 64-61 victory at Washington. The Ducks are 5-2 in Quadrant 1 opportunities. | 1 | 24-12 |
| 16 |  | The Tigers missed 19 of the 23 3-pointers they attempted in Saturday's 69-47 loss at Florida. Auburn has dropped its past two games by an average of 20.5 points. | 10 | 27-8 |
| 17 |  | Kyler Edwards finished with 22 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 72-52 victory over Iowa State. Three of the Red Raiders' five losses are to teams also ranked in the Top 25 And 1. | 1 | 23-11 |
| 18 |  | D.J. Jeffries finished with 18 points and four rebounds in Thursday's 60-49 victory over Cincinnati. The Tigers are 12-2 without James Wiseman, who quit the team the week before Christmas. | 2 | 22-10 |
| 19 |  | Luka Garza finished with 33 points and seven rebounds in Friday's 90-83 victory over Michigan. The Hawkeyes will take a three-game winning streak into Wednesday's game with Rutgers. | 3 | 19-15 |
| 20 |  | Nick Richards finished with 17 points and nine rebounds in Saturday's 73-66 victory at Arkansas. The Wildcats' resume features two wins over top-10 KenPom teams and three losses to sub-90 KenPom teams. | 3 | 23-10 |
| 21 |  | Quentin Grimes got 10 points and four rebounds off the bench in Saturday's 65-54 victory at Wichita State. The Cougars are 8-1 in their past nine games. | NR | 32-5 |
| 22 |  | The Shockers only shot 30.4% from the field in Saturday's 65-54 loss to Houston. Wichita State will take a two-game losing streak into Tuesday's game at South Florida. | 3 | 15-19 |
| 23 |  | Lamar Stevens finished with 24 points and three rebounds in Saturday's 90-76 victory over Ohio State. The Nittany Lions have seven wins over top-60 KenPom teams and only one loss outside of the top 35. | NR | 16-17 |
| 24 |  | Trent Frazier finished with 16 points, five rebounds and three steals in Saturday's 75-71 victory over Northwestern. Illinois will take a four-game winning streak into Tuesday's game at Purdue. | -- | 29-9 |
| 25 |  | Akwasi Yeboah finished with 14 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday's 59-50 victory over Indiana. Rutgers is 7-1 in its past eight games. | -- | 15-17 |
| 26 |  | The Razorbacks missed 18 of the 26 3-pointers they attempted in Saturday's 73-66 loss to Kentucky. Arkansas is 3-3 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses outside of the first two Quadrants. | -- | 16-17 |
IN: Houston, Penn State
OUT: Ohio State, Colorado
