Duke widens the gap atop the ESPN Basketball Power Index rankings
Duke widens the gap atop the ESPN Basketball Power Index rankings
Any college basketball fans who watched the Duke Blue Devils over the last two weeks must wonder how this roster could possibly lose another game.
Cooper Flagg and his teammates beat Wake Forest by 33 points on Monday, their fourth consecutive victory by at least that wide a margin, and the Blue Devils have a +148 point differential over that span. As a result, Duke saw its lead atop the ESPN Basketball Power Index grow a little larger on Tuesday morning.
With one game left in the regular season, the Blue Devils have a 25.3 index in ESPN's advanced metric. The Houston Cougars (23.9) and Auburn Tigers (23.4) are the only teams within five points of Duke, and the margin between Duke and the Tennessee Volunteers in fourth is wider than the difference between Tennessee and the VCU Rams at No. 33.
The Blue Devils have scored at least 93 points in five of their last six games, including three 100-point performances, and ESPN considers them the best offense in the nation with a 13.8 index. Duke earned its reputation as a defensive squad for most of the season, though, and it is still second on that side of the ball with an 11.5 index (Houston is first at 13.0).
The Clemson Tigers have risen all the way to No. 13 in the rankings as the second-best ACC squad. The North Carolina Tar Heels, Duke's last regular-season opponent, is No. 30 as of Tuesday morning.
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