Duke basketball receives attention-grabbing ‘championship’ take

Duke is not officially the No. 1-ranked team in college basketball, but it made a strong case with a dominant win over Louisville on Monday night. Although the National Championship is still months away, the win convinced many that the Blue Devils should be viewed as title favorites.

The Blue Devils entered the game against No. 20 Louisville as the No. 4 team in the country and were expected to engage in a back-and-forth battle, much like the one the teams had two weeks before. Instead, the Duke ran away with a 31-point victory, convincing Field of 68 college basketball analyst Rob Dauster that it should be considered the National Championship favorite moving forward.

“We are not rating this Duke team as good as they are,” Dauster said. “I do feel like we are still kind of underrating them nationally… This team is good enough to win a national championship. I just think that Duke, what they’ve been able to do this season — if they don’t blow a 17-point lead to Texas Tech, they’re undefeated. Just think about what that conversation is that we’re having right now. This Duke team is legit.”

"Duke is good enough to win a national championship. What they've been able to do is somehow still flying under the radar"@RobDauster on another DOMINANT win for @DukeMBB

: https://t.co/9iOKMXyUSo pic.twitter.com/64lPKHMMLh

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) January 27, 2026

Duke dominated Louisville offensively while suffocating them on defense. The Cardinals shot just 30 percent from the floor, making just 16 field goals the entire game.

Duke’s only loss through 20 games came against No. 11-ranked Texas Tech in a neutral-site game on Dec. 20. They dominated in the first half before falling off a cliff in the second half to drop a one-point game.

Most of the attention Duke receives rightfully goes to star freshman Cameron Boozer, who is the Wooden Award favorite midway through the season. However, Dauster believes the Blue Devils’ surrounding talent — including guard Isaiah Evans, center Patrick Ngongba II and Boozer’s twin brother, Cayden Boozer — deserve more credit than they receive.

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