Duke-Michigan men’s basketball now a matchup of top-3 AP Top 25 teams
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Duke rises to No. 2 in AP poll after wins over Pitt and Clemson.
- No. 1 Michigan enters 24-1, 10-game win streak and top NET ranking.
- Saturday neutral-site game in Washington offers high-stakes test.
Duke’s Blue Devils will be taking a break from a run of ACC games this weekend, but not taking a step back in competition.
How’s this: No. 3 Duke versus No. 1 Michigan.
The new AP men’s basketball poll was released Monday and the Wolverines (24-1) moved into the top spot after they took care of business and Arizona stumbled. The Blue Devils (24-2), after wins over Pitt and Clemson, moved up one spot from No. 4 to No. 3.
Duke faced Syracuse on Monday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, which was the Blue Devils’ most pressing business. Having beaten the Orange, 101-64, the focus then quickly shifted to Michigan and the 6:30 p.m. ESPN game Saturday at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
“We knew they were going to be really good, one of the best in the country, when we scheduled this game,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said Monday. “But again, you don’t know they’re going to be No. 1, and you hope you’re going to be really good. You never know before the season starts.
“I love the fact of where we are with our team and I love the fact where they are. That’s what this game should be all about. I think it’s going to bring out the best in both teams. .... It’s such an incredible opportunity for our group and we’ll be ready, and we’ll grow and learn and then we’ll get back to ACC play.”
Last season, the Blue Devils went to New York’s Madison Square Garden for a February nonconference matchup against Illinois of the Big Ten. Duke, then ranked No. 2, routed the Fighting Illini, 110-67.
“The conference play can really bog you down, it’s such a grind,” Scheyer said Saturday after the Blue Devils’ 67-54 win over Clemson. “This is a great test for us when you can play this game.”
“We learned a lot last year. Neutral site game. That’s what you’re going to play in the postseason. You play a great opponent that’s different, that you’re not watching them all the time.”
The Wolverines, No. 1 in the NCAA NET rankings, have won their past 10 games and are 14-1 in the Big Ten this season entering Tuesday game at No. 7 Purdue. Their only loss: 91-88 at home against Wisconsin on Jan. 10, when the Badgers were 15-of-33 on 3-pointers.
Michigan, in its second season under coach Dusty May, has a balanced offensive attack, with three players averaging in double figures and three more getting 9 or more points a game. Point guard Elliot Cadeau, the transfer from UNC, is averaging 9.8 points a game and a team-leading 5.5 assists.
The Wolverines are limiting opponents to 37% shooting through 25 games — 29% on 3’s.
Saturday’s game will be Duke’s first matchup against a No. 1 team since the Blue Devils, then No. 5, knocked off Gonzaga, 84-81, in Las Vegas on Nov. 26, 2021.
As a freshman this season, Duke forward Nikolas Khamenia has been in games against Kansas and Texas Tech at New York’s Madison Square Garden, faced Arkansas in Chicago and gone up against last year’s NCAA champion, Florida, at Cameron. Now, it will be No. 1 Michigan in Washington.
“You want to be on one of the best teams, and you want to play against the best teams on the biggest stages,” Khamenia said Monday. “Growing up as a kid, you dream about those games, like when we played against Florida this year here at home. We played Kansas in the Garden. You dream about stuff like that.”
Duke and Michigan have not faced off since the 2013-14 season, when the Blue Devils won, 79-69, in Durham in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Duke has won the past three games and is 21-7 overall in the series.
The most momentous matchup was in the 1992 NCAA tournament, when the Blue Devils took a 71-51 win over Michigan’s “Fab Five” team in the championship game in Minneapolis. That gave Duke back-to-back titles.
The Wolverines and Blue Devils are 1-2 in the NET rankings. They’re 1-2 in the KenPom rankings. Now, 1-3 in the AP poll.
“We’re going to learn a lot,” Scheyer said. “You go into the game obviously to win, but the lessons you come away with completely outweigh the risk/reward when you think about that game.”
This story was originally published February 16, 2026 at 1:07 PM.
