Duke makes first move

I may be a first-time AP Top 25 voter this season, but this much I know so far: it’s almost impossible to accurately pick a preseason poll.

It’s all based purely on speculation, and no actual results. And though one week of games are in the books, it will take weeks, maybe even a month or two, for there to be a realistic idea of who the best 25 teams in the nation are. It’s hard to assess that in November.

Still, there must be a poll, and there are results to base it off, as little as they may be. That’s why Duke is my new No. 1.

I was one of many who picked Kansas as my preseason

No. 1, and it was going take a lot to remove the Jayhawks off the top line, especially after beating No. 10 Michigan State in last Tuesday’s opener. How can you punish a team for not losing? It’s simple: Duke was that good.

The Blue Devils’ 34-point rout of No. 2 Kentucky was so convincing that there wasn’t any other choice but to slide them into the top spot. I had them No. 4 in my preseason poll, partly because I wasn’t sure how their three-headed monster of freshmen Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish would mesh. But they answered that emphatically. The trio combined for 83 points in the beatdown of the Wildcats, and looked unstoppable — at least for one game.

The rest of my poll stayed mostly the same after most of the 25 took care of business. Kentucky didn’t look great in its win over Southern Illinois, but I only dropped the Wildcats to ninth. I moved Auburn from ninth to seventh after its win over previously No. 25 (and my No. 17) Washington.

Indiana, who I considered putting in my preseason poll, moved into my poll at No. 25, despite Buffalo’s best bid after its win over West Virginia.

We should learn more this week, when the Hoosiers face Marquette, Villanova takes on Michigan, and other surprises are sure to loom in the opening weeks of the season.