Duke, Kentucky, and UNC Made History Today
Today, the Associated Press released their Top 25 college basketball teams and some of the games biggest names made history. No, we aren’t talking about the dominance of Gonzaga and Baylor but we are talking about the lack of for Duke, Kentucky, and UNC.
For the first time since 1961, the AP didn’t rank Duke, Kentucky or UNC in their top 25.
This is the first AP College Basketball poll in which Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina have all been unranked in the Top 25 since 1961
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) January 18, 2021
Like I said, the last time this happened was 1961. Last time this happened, JFK was in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Germany was divided, Elvis Presley had the number one song in the world, and Cincinnati was your NCAA Champion.
These three teams are totally getting bailed out this year by how good Gonzaga and the Big-10 is. As a diehard ACC man, I can confidently say this year they are going no where. Duke, UNC, Virginia, and Louisville are the big dogs and only Virginia is good this year. And not even good enough to win it all. But how bad can these teams be? I feel like no matter how “bad” they are, they usually pull out a decent season and go no where in the tournament. But, no they are like really bad.
Duke (5-3) is currently fourth in the ACC and according to their stats they only have two players – Matthew Hurt and DJ Steward. The rest aren’t much help. I’m honestly shocked Duke is bad this year. I thought with Wendall Moore Jr. coming back and landing Ivy transfer Patrick Tape, along with Hurt and Steward’s play they would be better than their record. I mean 5-3 isn’t bad but when you have the name and the coach that Duke has, it’s bad. But the big reason this Duke team is unranked is because they are 0-3 against ranked teams this year. That would do it.
As for UNC (8-5), they were going through a rebuild. This is a team who is going through a rebuild and an identity crisis. In past years they have had great guards like Marcus Paige, Coby White, Cam Johnson, and a big presence with Luke Maye. But this year it is a bunch of nobodies.
Roy Williams is too old and too stubborn to develop talent like he has in the past. People forget about Roy Williams and Coach K too, they don’t coach or care when their teams suck. That is also what is happening to Kentucky (4-8) this year too. Coach Cal didn’t really have too good of a recruiting class and he can only coach with NBA talent. It honestly makes you think how they get by, but producing NBA talent wins and on off years when you don’t have them, then the team with four seniors will dominate.
The difference this year with these three teams is how much they are struggling against ranked teams. They are combined 0-7 against ranked teams. It doesn’t matter what your name or history is and if anything this year is showing it. If you can’t beat ranked teams in the regular season, then there is no way you’ll get the chance to do so in March.
–John (Uncle_mac4)