Next up for Duke is Florida State, and playing the Seminoles in Tallahassee hasn't been all that easy lately.
Duke has lost twice in Tallahassee as the number one team, falling in 2002 and 2006. Florida State has also beaten UNC at home when they were top-ranked.
Under Leonard Hamilton, Florida State has become a pretty good defensive team, and Chris Singleton is one of the nation's elite defenders.
Singleton, a highly athletic 6-9 player, is averaging 21.8 PPG and 9.3 RPG over the last four games.
Although he has said that Kyle Singler is one of the toughest players in the ACC to guard, he is also one of the most capable of guarding him.
Interestingly, Singleton is better statistically in every category than Singler except for points scored, not that statistics explain everything
Although the Seminoles have been up-and-down lately, they did knock off Baylor when they were #15.
Singleton will likely be joined in the starting lineup by forward Bernard James and guards Deividas Dulkys, Michael Snaer and Derwin Kitchen.
James, a military veteran, came to the game late but has proven to be a very useful player for Florida State. He brings a lot of maturity and toughness to the floor.
As has been the case for those couple of seasons, Florida State lacks a true point guard, and this perhaps explains their 17.5 turnovers per game.
However, both Snaer and Dulkys are very competent three-point shooters and Kitchen is a very athletic substitute at point guard.
Xavier Gibson, a talented if erratic big man, is sidelined by injury but a number of bench players are capable of helping.
Although Florida State is often inept offensively, their defense is often good enough to overcome that.
Add to that the intensity which follows Duke on the road and at the very least, FSU has a puncher's chance.
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