The Duke basketball program suffered its first loss of the season in brutal fashion, falling 82-81 to No. 15 Texas Tech at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 20. Now sitting at 11-1 on the 2025-26 campaign, the Blue Devils are still regarded as a perennial national title contender, and are in the midst of a long layoff before they take the court next on Dec. 31 against Georgia Tech at home to open up conference play.
Duke is the clear-cut best team in the ACC, but the conference looks to be in a much healthier place than it's been in any of the last five seasons.