Duke basketball moves to No. 1 in AP poll after beating Michigan
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- Duke rises to No. 1 in AP poll after 68-63 neutral-site win over Michigan.
- Duke outboarded Michigan 41-28 and led paint scoring 34-24.
- Boozer had 18-10-7; Scheyer said it felt like a March/April game.
Beating Michigan has pushed Duke to No. 1.
The Blue Devils (25-2) took over the top spot in the AP poll on Monday, moving up two spots after their 68-63 win over the Wolverines on Saturday in Washington. DC.
The Wolverines (25-2) had moved to No. 1 last week and notched a road win against Purdue, then ranked No. 7, before facing the Blue Devils at Capital One Arena. Michigan fell to No. 3 in the weekly poll while Arizona (25-2), which topped Houston on Saturday, is ranked No. 2.
Virginia, which plays at Duke on Saturday, is ranked No. 11 and North Carolina is No. 18. Louisville was the fourth ACC ranked, at No. 24.
Michigan continues to be ranked No. 1 in the NCAA NET rankings and KenPom rankings despite the loss to Duke. The Blue Devils remained second in both, and Arizona third.
The KenPom rankings have the Wolverines first in defensive efficiency and Duke third. Michigan is fifth and Duke seventh in offensive efficiency, according to KenPom.
“Numbers wise, analytics, whatever, we’re pretty even,” Duke’s Cameron Boozer said after Saturday’s game.
On the court, head to head at a neutral site, the Blue Devils proved to be better. Boozer had 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in the game billed as the Capital Showcase and the Devils got key contributions from everyone in the lineup.
“Winning plays from everybody,” as Boozer put it.
The Blue Devils had a decisive 41-28 rebounding advantage and outscored the Wolverines 34-24 in the paint.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer believed the Michigan game simulated what the Blue Devils would see in March when the NCAA tournament begins.
“It felt like a game in March or April,” Scheyer said after the game. “Our guys were ready to compete at a high level.”
Duke was ranked No. 1 last March before winning the ACC Tournament, carrying that into the NCAAs. The Blue Devils briefly held the No 1 spot early in the 2021-22 season, moving up from No. 5 after beating Gonzaga, then No. 1.
The Blue Devils, 13-1 in the ACC, go to Notre Dame (12-15, 3-11) on Tuesday to face a Fighting Irish team coming off a 73-68 loss at Pittsburgh. Irish coach Micah Shrewsberry said Monday star guard Markus Burton would not return this season -- Burton has been out since December after ankle surgery and played 10 games.
Notre Dame’s past wins over No. 1 teams includes one hugely significant upset: a 71-70 victory over UCLA on Jan. 19, 1974, ending the Bruins’ 88-game winning streak.
This story was originally published February 23, 2026 at 1:28 PM.
