College basketball rankings: Duke aims for outright ACC title in rivalry game vs. North Carolina

The second of two games scheduled annually between Duke and North Carolina will be played later Saturday inside the Dean Smith Center. It should be a fun scene. But the juice that used to accompany the matchup is undeniably lacking, in part because, for the fourth time in the past six meetings, North Carolina enters without a number next to its name.

Unranked UNC?

That doesn’t even sound right, does it? But that’s the label the Tar Heels took into both games with Duke in 2023 and both games against Duke in 2025. Even more of an indicator of just how differently these rivals are operating right now is the fact that Duke is a 9.5-point favorite on the road against a North Carolina team that’s 1-10 in Quadrant 1 opportunities. 

Yes, the Tar Heels are riding a six-game winning streak — and that’s certainly better than the alternative. But the reason UNC remains on the wrong side of the bubble, according to CBS Sports bracket expert Jerry Palm, is because all six of those wins are against teams ranked 89th or worse in the NET. At this risk of piling on, I’m compelled to highlight that every team in the SEC — all 16 of them, even last-place South Carolina — is better in the NET than every ACC team North Carolina has topped in this winning streak.

That’s crazy.

Bottom line: The ACC is down bad. Ten of the 18 members are worse than the worst team in the SEC, according to the NET. Nine of the 18 members are worse than the worst team in the Big 12, according to the NET. As of this moment, Palm is only projecting the ACC to receive three bids to the NCAA Tournament. The Mountain West could — and probably should — receive more.

Duke is No. 2 in Saturday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Auburn remains No. 1 for the 59th consecutive day. The Blue Devils can secure the first outright ACC title of Jon Scheyer’s career with a win at North Carolina, or if Clemson and Louisville both lose, the latter of which seems unlikely. Tip is set for 6:30 pm ET.

Top 25 And 1 rankings