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Come Fan with UsTuesday, August 4, 2026

NCAA basketball rankings: Duke Blue Devils close out the season at No. 1

Trio of ACC squads finish atop the final AP Poll of the season.

NCAA Basketball: ACC Conference Tournament-Florida State vs Duke
NCAA Basketball: ACC Conference Tournament-Florida State vs Duke
Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

The final AP Poll was released today, led by the ACC tournament champion Duke Blue Devils. Zion Williamson returned from his knee injury for the tournament, and added Most Outstanding Player to the litany of regular-season awards he collected. The Blue Devils got 58 first place votes, six shy of being the unanimous No. 1.

The Virginia Cavaliers took five of those first place votes and held steady at No. 2 this week, despite its ACC tourney semifinal loss to Florida State. North Carolina — which joined Duke and UVA on the No. 1 seed line in the NCAA tournament — came in at No. 3 this week, and Gonzaga dropped to No. 4 after losing to St. Mary’s in the WCC tournament finals. Big Ten tourney champ Michigan State rounds out the top five.

Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, Texas Tech, and Florida State complete the top 10.

Maryland and Marquette fell out of the rankings in the final week, leaving room for Big 12 champ Iowa State and the Mountain West’s Utah State.

The ACC led with five teams ranked, with three in the top three. The Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC all had four teams represented this week.

Here’s the full poll:

AP Poll - Final

Rank

Team

Conference

Record

Previous Week

1DukeACC29-55
2VirginiaACC29-32
3North CarolinaACC27-63
4GonzagaWest Coast30-31
5Michigan StateBig Ten28-66
6TennesseeSEC29-58
7KentuckySEC27-64
8MichiganBig Ten28-610
9Texas TechBig 1226-67
10Florida StateACC27-712
11HoustonAAC31-311
12LSUSEC26-69
13PurdueBig Ten23-913
14AuburnSEC26-922
15BuffaloMid-American 31-318
16Virginia TechACC24-816
17KansasBig 1225-917
18Kansas StateBig 1225-815
19WoffordSouthern29-420
20NevadaMountain West29-414
21WisconsinBig Ten23-1019
22CincinnatiAAC28-624
23VillanovaBig East25-925
24Iowa StateBig 1223-11NR
25Utah StateMountain West28-6NR
Others receiving votes: Marquette 63, Maryland 55, Mississippi St. 35, Murray St. 12, New Mexico St. 11, UCF 9, Louisville 8, VCU 4, Seton Hall 3, Old Dominion 2, Liberty 1.
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