College basketball bluebloods made gridiron history again, but which have staying power

Around this time on the college football calendar a year ago, Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky made history because the four basketball bluebloods were all 3-0 at the same time for the first time ever. 

Well, take a peak at the latest AP Poll Top 25 rankings and college basketball’s bluebloods are running it back again this September. Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Duke, along with Syracuse are all 4-0 for the first time ever. 

Duke, UNC and Kansas are all ranked, while Kentucky received the second-most votes on teams just outside the Top 25 win and it has a chance to nab a ranked victory against Florida on Saturday. 

But can any of the “basketball schools” have any staying power in 2023? Last season, Duke, which survived a midyear stumble losing three of four, was the only one to have a true Cinderella season, as the rest of the teams all turned into pumpkins once the leaves started to change.

The Jayhawks beat Duke and then lost seven of eight to end the year. Kentucky started 4-0 only to drop five of seven. The Orange completely crated, starting the season 6-0 before losing six of seven down the stretch. 

North Carolina made the ACC Championship, but Mack Brown ended the season on a four-game losing streak. 

So will any of the bluebloods avoid a repeat an October careen? Just like ESPN did a year ago with Kansas, College GameDay is going to Duke for a football game for the first time in school history to take advantage of this moment. Are the Blue Devils up for the challenge against No. 11 Notre Dame?

Duke 

Mike Elko’s team is 4-0 and ranked No. 17 in the country — its best showing in the AP Poll in 29 years. The Blue Devils have one of the more underrated dual-threat QBs in Riley Leonard (who actually has twice as many rushing touchdowns as passing scores so far in 2023) and they’ve improved defensively even more in Year 2 (hello secondary transfers working out). 

A repeat 9-win season is not out of the question, but there are several landmines remaining on the schedule and they need to get more from Leonard in the passing game. They host Notre Dame this week, with NC State and at Florida State and Louisville making up a tough October. They go to rival North Carolina in November. 

Kansas

The Jayhawks are 4-0 in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1915. Lance Leipold is out here doing things in Lawrence that hasn’t happened since World War 1. 

Quarterback Jalon Daniels is off to another hot start (75% completion, 9.4 yards per attempt), and he’s been aided by the second-best rushing attack in the Big 12 (5.48 yards per carry, 10 touchdowns). Kansas fell apart once it started conference play in 2022, and while this weekend’s trip to No. 3 Texas will likely end their unblemished record, the rest of their Big 12 schedule no longer looks overly daunting. 

The league is down, and with UCF (QB out), Oklahoma State (awful), Iowa State (bad), Texas Tech (underwhelming) and Cincy (bad) all still on Kansas’ slate, Leipold could lead the Jayhawks to their first eight-win season in 16 years.

Kentucky

The Wildcats have started 4-0 under Mark Stoops a couple of times before, but this has the makings of one of their “leap seasons.” They haven’t been overly impressive (transfer QB Devin Leary has just been fine, the promising receiver room is plagued by drops and the OL is still meh) but they’ve won all their games by double-digits and have three of their next four (Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina) all at Kroger Field — all winnable. 

Stoops has flipped the series with the Gators, winning three of the last five games to end Kentucky’s 31-year losing streak vs. UF. A victory Saturday would vault the Wildcats into the Top 25 ahead of a monster showdown with Georgia. 

North Carolina

In a bit of irony, UNC is 4-0 for the first time in 36 years — the final season of Mack Brown’s first tour as the Tar Heels’ head coach. Drake Maye is out here throwing left-handed touchdowns just to further hammer home any possible Patrick Maholmes comparisons, while UNC’s defense has made legitimate strides in its second season under Gene Chizik. 

With Maye pulling the trigger (ACC-best 1,187 yards), the Tar Heels are capable of beating anyone on their schedule. They get Miami and Duke at home. They do end the season at Clemson and at NC State. 

The ACC kinda stinks, and with no Florida State on the schedule, North Carolina could (and perhaps should?) find itself back in the title game again in 2023. 

Syracuse

The Orange host Clemson this weekend before upcoming road trips at North Carolina and Florida State, so I think we know where this is going, but Dino Babers’ team still deserves a little shine before the bubble bursts. 

With wins over Purdue and Army in recent weeks, Syracuse is 4-0 in non-conference play for the first time in 52 years! Dual-threat QB Garrett Shrader has been really solid (12 total touchdowns, 9.2 yards per attempt, 6.8 yards per rush), leading the top-scoring offense in the ACC. They did lose their top playmaker Oronde Gadsden II to a season-ending injury, though. The Orange also have the second-best scoring defense in the league, allowing just 10.8 points per game. 

We’ll know how real (or not) the Orange are in 2023 over the next month, but if Babers’ team can just survive physically (something they couldn’t do a year ago when their season fell off a cliff), there’s a lot of winnable games the last six weeks.