Duke has a Hall of Fame coach, multiple projected first-round NBA Draft picks and generally strong computer numbers. That's all great stuff. But the Blue Devils' body of work took a hit Wednesday night.
Final: NC State 88, Duke 66.
That represents the most lopsided loss Mike Krzyzewski's program has suffered since January 2013. And when you combine the blowout to a bubble team with three other losses, including one that came at home to Stephen F. Austin and qualifies as a Quadrant 3 defeat, it's impossible to argue that Duke doesn't have the worst loss column among teams currently contending for a No. 1 seed in the 2020 NCAA Tournament.
"We were not competitive," Krzyzewski acknowledged late Wednesday.
So Duke is now 22-4 overall, 12-3 in the ACC. But a limited number of Quadrant 1 victories -- the Blue Devils have six; Kansas and Baylor each have 10 -- paired with a loss column that's inferior to the loss column of most other highly ranked teams really could prevent Duke from being a No. 1 seed.
Is that the worst thing in the world?
No.
Duke, theoretically, as a No. 2 seed in the East Regional, playing an Elite Eight game inside New York's Madison Square Garden, would still have the Blue Devils in a great position to make the Final Four for the 13th time under Krzyzewski. So, big picture, everything is fine. But Wednesday night's 22-point loss to NC State did cause me to drop Duke in Thursday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The Blue Devils are now No. 9 -- one spot below Creighton, one spot ahead of Kentucky. Their next game is Saturday against Virginia Tech.
Thursday's Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Filip Petrusev finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds in Saturday's 89-77 victory over Pepperdine. The Zags' 18-game winning streak features 14 double-digit wins. | -- | 27-8 |
| 2 |  | Jared Butler finished with 22 points, five rebounds and three assists in Tuesday's 65-54 victory at Oklahoma. The Bears' 23-game winning streak also includes victories over Kansas, Villanova and Butler. | -- | 24-11 |
| 3 |  | Malachi Flynn finished with 22 points, six rebounds and six assists in Sunday's 72-55 win at Boise State. The Aztecs are 26-0 for the first time in school history. | -- | 26-11 |
| 4 |  | Devon Dotson made six 3-pointers and finished with 29 points in Monday's 91-71 victory over Iowa State. The Jayhawks will take an 11-game winning streak into Saturday's game at Baylor. | -- | 23-11 |
| 5 |  | Jalen Crutcher made two 3-pointers and finished with 18 points in Tuesday's 66-61 victory at VCU. Both of the Flyers' losses are OT losses to schools also ranked in the Top 25 And 1. | -- | 25-8 |
| 6 |  | Jalen Smith finished with 22 points and 19 rebounds in Tuesday's 76-67 victory over Northwestern. The Terrapins will take an nine-game winning streak into Sunday's game at Ohio State. | -- | 16-17 |
| 7 |  | Patrick Williams got 16 points and five rebounds off the bench in Tuesday's 82-67 victory over Pitt. The Seminoles are 12-3 in the ACC, tied with Louisville in the loss column for second in the league standings. | 1 | 17-16 |
| 8 |  | Ty-Shon Alexander made four 3-pointers and finished with 22 points in Tuesday's 73-65 victory at Marquette. The Bluejays are 8-1 in their past nine games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Providence. | 1 | 25-10 |
| 9 |  | The Blue Devils missed 13 of the 17 3-pointers they attempted in Wednesday's 88-66 loss at NC State. It was Duke's most lopsided loss since a 90-63 loss at Miami in January 2013. | 2 | 27-9 |
| 10 |  | Immanuel Quickley finished with 21 points, six assists and four rebounds in Tuesday's 79-76 win at LSU. The Wildcats are 9-1 in their past 10 games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Auburn. | 1 | 23-10 |
| 11 |  | The Nittany Lions missed 15 of the 19 3-pointers they attempted in Tuesday's 62-56 loss to Illinois. The loss snapped Penn State's eight-game winning streak. | 1 | 16-17 |
| 12 |  | Sandro Mamukelashvili made the game-winning bucket at the buzzer and finished with 15 points in Wednesday's 74-72 victory over Butler. Seton Hall is 3-2 in its past five games with wins over Villanova and Butler. | 1 | 25-12 |
| 13 |  | Saddiq Bey made five of the Wildcats' 18 3-pointers, and finished with 20 points, in Wednesday's 91-71 victory at DePaul. The Wildcats are one of just six teams with zero losses outside of the first quadrant. | 1 | 18-16 |
| 14 |  | The Tigers missed 22 of the 26 3-pointers they attempted in Wednesday's 65-55 loss at Georgia. Auburn is 0-2 since Isaac Okoro suffered a hamstring injury. | 4 | 27-8 |
| 15 |  | Payton Pritchard made five 3-pointers and finished with 25 points in Sunday's 80-62 victory over Utah. The Ducks are 9-4 in the Pac-12 and tied with Colorado atop the league standings. | -- | 24-12 |
| 16 |  | Tyler Bey finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds in Saturday's 69-47 victory at Oregon State. The Buffaloes are the only team besides Kansas to beat Dayton this season. | -- | 26-11 |
| 17 |  | Jordan Nwora finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday's 90-66 victory over Syracuse. The Cardinals are tied for second in the loss column of the ACC standings with Florida State. | -- | 8-24 |
| 18 |  | Oscar Tshiebwe finished with eight points and 15 rebounds in Tuesday's 65-47 victory over Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers are 5-4 in their past nine games. | -- | 9-23 |
| 19 |  | The Bulldogs missed 14 of the 21 3-pointers they attempted in Wednesday's 74-72 loss at Seton Hall. Butler is 1-3 in its past four games and just 7-7 in the Big East. | -- | 18-15 |
| 20 |  | Markus Howard scored zero points in the first half, and only finished with 14, in Tuesday's 73-65 loss to Creighton. The Golden Eagles will take a two-game losing streak into Saturday's game at Providence. | -- | 27-10 |
| 21 |  | Zavier Simpson finished with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists in Wednesday's 60-52 victory at Rutgers. The Wolverines are 6-1 in their past seven games with the lone loss in that stretch coming to Ohio State. | -- | 8-24 |
| 22 |  | TJ Haws finished with 17 points and 10 assists in Saturday's 72-71 victory at San Diego. The Cougars are 13-2 with Yoeli Childs in the lineup. | -- | 23-11 |
| 23 |  | Luka Garza finished with 24 points and eight rebounds in Sunday's 58-55 victory at Minnesota. The Hawkeyes are 8-6 in Quadrant 1 opportunities with only two losses outside of the first quadrant. | -- | 19-15 |
| 24 |  | Caleb Mills made five 3-pointers and finished with 27 points in Wednesday's 76-43 victory over Tulsa. The Cougars are 11-3 in the AAC and alone atop the league standings. | -- | 32-5 |
| 25 |  | Kyle Young finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 68-52 victory over Purdue. The Buckeyes are 5-1 in their past six games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Wisconsin. | -- | 22-14 |
| 26 |  | Zeke Nnaji finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday's 69-60 victory at Stanford. The Wildcats are 5-1 in their past six games with wins in that stretch over USC and Washington. | -- | 27-9 |
