The Duke Blue Devils will open up the fifth year of the Jon Scheyer era in a few weeks, hosting Army in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The start of the season is rapidly approaching and the excitement for the new campaign is still high for the Blue Devils.

Scheyer and Duke are coming off another Elite Eight appearance, but it was also another heartbreaking loss. They blew a 17-point lead to UConn, which denied them a return trip to the Final Four.

But this offseason, Duke reloaded as they brought in the No. 1 recruiting class, a good transfer portal class, and returned some key players from last season's team. So when the preseason polls were released on Monday, it wasn't surprising to see the Blue Devils near the top.

Duke was ranked No. 2 in both the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25 Poll released on Monday. The Blue Devils are behind only No. 1 Florida in both polls.

Going into this week and the release of the polls, it was pretty evident that Duke was going to be near the top. Both Florida and Duke are considered the two favorites going into this season with Illinois, UConn, and Arizona right behind them.

Let's start with the coaches poll.

2026-27 Coaches Poll

Duke earned 725 points and 8 first place votes, behind Florida's 732 votes and 20 first place votes. Below is the full poll:

RankTeamRecordPTS1stPrevChgHi/Lo
1Florida Gators0-073220NR-1/1
2Duke Blue Devils0-07258NR-2/2
3Illinois Fighting Illini0-06832NR-3/3
4Arizona Wildcats0-06340NR-4/4
5UConn Huskies0-06120NR-5/5
6Michigan State Spartans0-05700NR-6/6
7Texas Longhorns0-05270NR-7/7
8Houston Cougars0-04860NR-8/8
9Tennessee Volunteers0-04360NR-9/9
10Virginia Cavaliers0-04090NR-10/10
11Louisville Cardinals0-03690NR-11/11
12Gonzaga Bulldogs0-03610NR-12/12
13Arkansas Razorbacks0-03450NR-13/13
14St. John's Red Storm0-03160NR-14/14
14Iowa State Cyclones0-03160NR-14/14
16Texas Tech Red Raiders0-03140NR-16/16
17Miami (FL) Hurricanes0-02920NR-17/17
18Kansas Jayhawks0-02860NR-18/18
18Alabama Crimson Tide0-02860NR-18/18
20Michigan Wolverines0-02190NR-20/20
21Vanderbilt Commodores0-01640NR-21/21
22USC Trojans0-01030NR-22/22
23Kentucky Wildcats0-01000NR-23/23
24Purdue Boilermakers0-0830NR-24/24
25BYU Cougars0-0760NR-25/25

Others Receiving Votes

Nebraska 66; UCLA 64; Missouri 60; Ohio State 31; North Carolina 24; Texas A&M 19; Villanova 14; Indiana 9; Wisconsin 5; Saint Louis 4; Cincinnati 4; West Virginia 2; Creighton 2; Maryland 1; Auburn 1;

2026-27 AP Top 25 preseason poll

Duke earned 1,411 total points and 10 first-place votes in the poll. They trailed Florida who earned 1,461 total points and 47 first place votes. Below is the AP Top 25 poll:

  1. Florida Gators
  2. Duke Blue Devils
  3. Illinois Fighting Illini
  4. UConn Huskies
  5. Arizona Wildcats
  6. Michigan State Spartans
  7. Texas Longhorns
  8. Tennessee Volunteers
  9. Virginia Cavaliers
  10. Houston Cougars
  11. Louisville Cardinals
  12. Arkansas Razorbacks
  13. St. John's Red Storm
  14. Miami Hurricanes
  15. Gonzaga Bulldogs
  16. Michign Wolverines
  17. Kansas Jayhawks
  18. Iowa State Cycloes
  19. Texas Tech Red Raiders
  20. Alabama Crimson Tide
  21. USC Trojans
  22. UCLA Bruins
  23. Kentucky Wildcats
  24. Vanderbilt Commadores
  25. BYU Cougars

Others receiving votes:

Missouri 167, Nebraska 70, Purdue 53, Ohio State 39, North Carolina 20, TCU 17, Saint Louis 13, VCU 12, Iowa 12, Virginia Tech 10, Indiana 8, Texas A&M 6, Villanova 6, Auburn 4, Marquette 3, Nevada 2, Grand Canyon 2, Utah State 2, Santa Clara 1

The ACC is well represented in both polls but one team missing is North Carolina. Duke's rival is not ranked in either poll in Michael Malone's first season. Instead, they are receiving votes.

The next polls will be released on November 9.

Source: Yahoo Sports