Florida State upsets No. 1 Duke

Believe it or not, Boston College is now sitting all alone in first place in the ACC.

Why?

Because for the third time in the past nine years, No. 1 Duke went into Tallahassee and left with a loss, this time falling 66-61 to Seminoles.

It was bound to happen eventually. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has said it repeatedly, but since Kyrie Irving's injury, the Blue Devils have been a very good basketball team, but not a great one. It is not possible to argue that Irving's absence has hurt the Blue Devils. When he went down against Butler, Irving was averaging 17.4 ppg and 5.1 apg. He wasn't just the best player on the team or the best freshman in the country, but there were many that believed he was on the short list for National Player of the Year contenders.

It doesn't matter who is on your roster, a talent like that going down will have a negative effect.


That said, I still stand by what I wrote in this post. Not having Irving in the lineup is not the biggest issue that Duke is facing right now.

Their front court is.

People tend to forget that with Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith, and Kyle Singler last year, the MVP of that group was Brian Zoubek. He provided the Blue Devils with a big, tough, physical presence inside. He wasn't a big-time scorer, but he was the best offensive rebounder in the country, he blocked shots, and he made life tough for an opposing team's big man.

Duke wasn't considered a real contender to win the national title until Zoubek came on in ACC play.

The Blue Devils don't have that presence this season.

Florida State is as big and athletic as any team in the country. Their size was a huge reason why Mason Plumlee, Miles Plumlee, Ryan Kelly, and Josh Hairston finished a combined 2-8 from the field for just six points while taking just two free throws and grabbing 19 rebounds. That rebounding figure is skewed; Mason Plumlee had 14 by himself.

That size in the paint and the lack of any kind of post threat turned Duke into the jump shooting team's that became notorious for fizzling out of the NCAA Tournament earlier than expected. Duke shot 35 -- 35! -- three pointers last night, making only 11. They shot a putrid 8-26 from inside the arc, which, needless to say, is well below their season average.

Would Irving have made a difference?

Quite possibly. He's a better penetrator than Smith, and even if he wasn't able to finish around the rim, at the very least Duke probably would have gotten a couple more easy looks around the basket and open threes. But Florida State's defense is legit, and even the most diehard Dukie has to admit that there is the possibility that Derwin Kitchen, Michael Snaer, and the rest of the Seminole's perimeter defenders would have been able to slow down Irving the way they held Smith to 6-17 shooting and Seth Curry and Andrew Dawkins to a miserable 5-20 performance, including 2-14 from deep.

As big as FSU's front line is, they don't really have a low block scorer on their roster. The only two times that Duke has faced a team with that kind of player, they've gotten burned. Miami's Reggie Johnson has 22 points and nine rebounds in 23 foul-plagued minutes. Jordan Williams had 23 points and 13 boards on Sunday as Maryland very nearly went into Cameron and knocked off the Blue Devils.

What happens when Duke faces a team like Ohio State, with the best low post player in the country in Jared Sullinger surrounded by quality, veteran perimeter players? Or Kansas, who can run the Morrii and Thomas Robinson out there with a bevy of talented wings? San Diego State? Texas? Washington? Minnesota?

The injury to Kyrie Irving hurt this team.

The loss of Brian Zoubek hurt more.

• I cannot write a post on Florida State's upset of Duke without talking about the Seminoles. Its ironic, when you think about it, that the Seminoles have now beaten the No. 1 team in the country just over a week after losing to Auburn, the worst BCS team in the country.
  
  How does that happen?
  
  Its simple -- Florida State is atrocious offensively. Their defense, however, is absolutely outstanding. It will keep them in the game against anyone in the country this season. When they get performances like they did tonight on the offensive end -- Derwin Kitchen played the best game of his college career, going for 22 points on 9-13 shooting and adding 10 boards while Chris Singleton had 18 points and made some huge foul shots late -- they are a good basketball team. When they don't, they aren't.
  
  Ask Auburn. Or Duke, for that matter.