Duke basketball is off to a scorching start in Jon Scheyer’s fourth season, and the numbers back it up. The Blue Devils have opened the 2025-26 campaign with eight straight wins - all by margins of at least nine points - marking their best start since the 2017-18 season. They’ve looked sharp, cohesive, and confident, and a big part of that early dominance is thanks to freshman forward Cameron Boozer, who’s already playing like a Naismith Award frontrunner.
But as impressive as Duke has been, the Michigan Wolverines are making just as much noise - if not more - on the national stage. Sitting at 7-0, Michigan just steamrolled two ranked opponents, Auburn and Gonzaga, by a combined 70 points.
That kind of dominance doesn’t go unnoticed, and it certainly didn’t with the NCAA’s first NET Rankings of the season, which dropped Monday morning. Michigan claimed the top spot, while Duke landed right behind them at No.
These early NET Rankings matter - not just as bragging rights, but as a crucial metric the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee leans on to help determine at-large bids and seeding. So yes, it’s early, but these rankings are already shaping the narrative for March.
The AP Top 25 Poll, also released Monday, offers a slightly different picture. Purdue holds the No. 1 spot there, followed by Arizona at No.
The season's first NET rankings are in:
— Made For March (@madeformarch) December 1, 2025
1) Michigan
2) Duke
3) Purdue
4) Vanderbilt
5) Gonzaga
6) Arizona
7) Iowa State
8) UConn
9) Louisville
10) Michigan State
11) Indiana
12) Tennessee
13) BYU
14) Alabama
15) Kentucky
16) Iowa
17) Kansas
18) Houston
19) LSU
20) USC
21) Butler…
- Michigan and Duke round out the top four at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.
The Blue Devils are the highest-ranked ACC team in both the NET and AP polls, but they’re not alone. Louisville checks in at No. 9 in the NET and No. 6 in the AP, while North Carolina is just outside the NET top 25 at No. 26 and holds steady at No. 16 in the AP despite a recent 74-58 loss to Michigan State.
Now, Duke’s focus shifts to a marquee matchup on Tuesday night, when they host the defending national champion Florida Gators inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
ET on ESPN as part of the annual ACC/SEC Challenge. The Gators come in at 5-2 and ranked No. 15 in the AP Poll, though their NET ranking sits at No. 33 after a loss to unranked TCU and a rebound win over Providence.
This game is more than just another non-conference test - it’s a chance for Duke to prove it can handle a battle-hardened, championship-caliber team. And it’s also a chance for Boozer to continue building his case as one of the most impactful freshmen in the country.
But the road doesn’t get any easier after Florida. Duke will head to East Lansing on Saturday for a noon ET showdown with Michigan State - a perennial powerhouse currently ranked No. 7 in the AP and No. 10 in the NET. That game marks Duke’s first true road test of the season against a high-major opponent, and it’s the kind of environment that will test the Blue Devils’ poise, depth, and maturity.
So far, Duke has passed every test with flying colors. But with back-to-back matchups against Florida and Michigan State looming, we’re about to learn a lot more about just how far this team can go.