The Duke Blue Devils aren’t the #1 ranked college basketball team in the country. Currently, that distinction belongs to the University of Tennessee. Duke is ranked #2 and they face a tough February schedule but that hasn’t stopped college basketball betting enthusiasts from backing them to win the NCAA Championship. The Blue Devils are +250 to win the NCAA Championship which makes them the favorites by a wide margin. After Duke the only teams priced at single digit odds are Virginia (+700), Gonzaga (+800) and Tennessee (+800).<\/p>\n
There’s a good chance that Duke will reclaim their number one ranking before the end of the month. That is assuming that they manage their tough schedule but there are already national poll voters who think the Blue Devils should be ranked atop the table. In the AP Top 25, Tennessee received 48 first place votes while Duke claimed 12 and Virginia received four. Things were a bit more lopsided in the Coaches Poll with Tennessee claiming 31 of 32 first place votes. The other vote went to Duke. The top five teams are the same in both polls–Tennessee, Duke, Virginia, Gonzaga and Michigan.<\/p>\n
Duke showed considerable character during the month of January. It could have been a difficult month after they lost starting point guard Tre Jones due to a separated shoulder. The Jones injury came during an overtime loss to Syracuse<\/a> but the Blue Devils wouldn’t lose again before their starting guard returned to the lineup. The Blue Devils only other loss besides the upset to Syracuse was to current #4 ranked Gonzaga earlier in the season. On the plus side, Duke did beat #3 ranked Virginia immediately after the loss to Syracuse and thus passed one of the tougher tests they’ll face this season.<\/p>\n February will be the true test of Duke’s championship mettle. It starts against a decent St. John’s team on Saturday at home but after another home game against Boston College it starts to get really nasty. During the rest of the month the Blue Devils play at Virginia, at #15 Louisville and home against #23 North Carolina State and #9 North Carolina. They\u2019ll play a rematch at Syracuse and close out the month with a road game at #12 Virginia Tech.<\/p>\n