Duke needs Kyrie Irving back to defend its national title.
Case in point: Without the Blue Devils' standout freshman point guard, who has been on the sidelines for more than a month with a serious toe injury, Coach K's bunch almost lost to Maryland.
At home.
Gary Williams is a heck of an Xs and Os guy, but this is a Terrapins team that walked into Cameron Indoor Stadium having already lost four games, including its league-opener to Boston College in College Park.
Maryland has one of the nation's top big men in Jordan Williams, but the Terps are likely a fringe NCAA tournament team come Selection Sunday.
And they almost knocked off the top-ranked team in the land.
Irving is the straw that stirs the Blue Devils. Duke ran through the first six Irving-less games without any issues, but now comes league play.
Even though the ACC may be the worst it has been in recent – or even distant – memory, the Dukies aren't going to overwhelm opponents without Irving.
They'll have to grind out wins – as they did on Sunday night.
Irving's status is still unclear as his foot remains in a boot, and there's renewed optimism he could return towards the end of the regular season.
But it's still a mystery.
With him in the lineup, there's a clear pecking order, and it begins with Duke.
Without him, Duke is just like everyone else.
That was clear against the Terps.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: BYU — Jimmer Fredette and the Cougars finally got a win on the road against UNLV. It had been about five years of coming up short for BYU against the Running Rebels, but Fredette went for 39, made seven 3-pointers and had plenty of help from Jackson Emery (22 points) and Brandon Davis (15 points, 10 rebounds). While so many ranked teams lost league games on the road, BYU was able to show it is for real with a quality road victory.
STUD (PLAYER OF WEEK): I'm going with a mid-major guy here: Hofstra's Charles Jenkins. The CAA Player of the Year front-runner led his team to three wins, including a pair on the road. He averaged 25 points and 6.3 assists per game in a week that began with a road win at Drexel, followed with a home victory over George Mason and capped off with another road win at Northeastern.
MOST IMPRESSIVE WIN: UConn's road win in Austin against a Texas team that has been playing extremely well of late. The Huskies were coming off a road loss to Notre Dame, and everyone expected them to get blasted in Austin. However, Alex Oriakhi was productive down low and on the glass, and Kemba Walker stepped up in crunch time and delivered the game-winner with seconds left.
SHOWCASE PERFORMANCE: You have to put this one in perspective. UConn sophomore big man Alex Oriakhi was coming off a game against Notre Dame in which he went scoreless and had six rebounds. He responded with 11 points and 21 rebounds in a huge road win for the Huskies at Texas.
WEEK TO FORGET: This was a tough call between Georgetown and Florida State, so I'm going to share the award between the two teams. The Hoyas began the week with a road loss against St. John's, but then dropped one over the weekend at home to West Virginia. Florida State lost both of its games on the road, but one of them came against likely SEC cellar dweller Auburn. The other was in Blacksburg against Virginia Tech.
DUD: Florida State losing to Auburn. The 'Noles should be an NCAA tournament team with their talent, and Tony Barbee's Tigers are terrible. This one could wind up costing Leonard Hamilton a bid down the line.
WORST LOSS: There were some bad losses this past week — Florida State at Auburn, Butler getting smacked at Milwaukee, Xavier getting crushed against crosstown rival Cincinnati, Michigan State losing at Penn State and Memphis being embarrassed at Tennessee. But the winner is UMass losing at Central Connecticut State – a team picked to finish fourth in the NEC.
MID-MAJOR TEAM OF THE WEEK: Tulane — New Green Wave coach Ed Conroy has the team off to a 2-0 start in C-USA play for the first time since 1996-97 after wins against Rice and SMU last week. Sophomore Kendall Timmons is having a phenomenal season, averaging 17.7 points and 8.9 rebounds while shooting 44 percent from deep. Tulane is 12-3 overall and has won six straight.
FEELING SORRY FOR: Elgin Bailey — The Mississippi State big man is now off the team and looking for a new destination while he watches Renardo Sidney in the starting lineup. I'm certainly not defending Bailey's actions in the Diamond Head Brawl, but talk about star treatment for a guy who isn't even a star.
UNBEATENS: The list of unbeatens has been whittled down to a handful after Central Florida and Cincinnati both went down this past week. There are Duke, Ohio State, Kansas, Syracuse and San Diego State left without a loss.
STILL LOOKING: There are four teams without a win in the D-I ranks: UNC Greensboro, Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Alcorn State and Centenary.
WEEK'S TOP MATCHUPS:
1) Wisconsin at Michigan State, Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET — There's a little pressure on the Spartans here after missing numerous opportunities in the nonconference slate, then losing at Penn State this past weekend.
2) Duke at Florida State, Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET — The Blue Devils will go on the road and play a Seminoles team that is struggling, but it's still a league road contest — and one Duke could lose if it doesn't play well.
3) Purdue at Minnesota, Thursday at 7 p.m. ET — I've been tough on the Boilermakers all year, but this could be a statement game for Matt Painter's team if it can beat the Gophers on the road.
4) UNLV at San Diego State, Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET — The Aztecs remain undefeated, but they will be tested by the Running Rebels — a fringe Top 25 team.
5) Georgia at Vanderbilt, Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET — The Bulldogs are coming off a home win against Kentucky — now it's time to see if, in fact, this team has matured and can win on the road.
6) Missouri at Texas A&M, Saturday at 1 p.m. — Missouri lost this past weekend at Colorado and could use a road win in College Station against a well-coached Texas A&M team that remains somewhat of a mystery.
