The Duke basketball program is heading into the 2025-26 season with a ton of roster turnover after losing its entire starting five from a season ago. Bringing back key returners mixed with the No. 1 overall 2025 recruiting class, the Blue Devils are looking to get back to the Final Four for the second time in a row under Jon Scheyer. And in terms of betting odds, Duke is looked at as maybe the best team in the country heading into next season.

Per FanDuel, the Blue Devils have the second-best odds of any team in college hoops to cut down the nets in 2026.

Houston: +1100

Duke: +1200

Purdue: +1200

Florida: +1600

Louisville: +1700

Kentucky: +1700

Sports books see Duke as one of the top contenders in the sport next season, even over reigning national champs Florida and squads ranked higher in most preseason rankings like Louisville and Kentucky.

Most rankings have Houston and Purdue ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in whatever order between the two, and the Blue Devils are looked at right there with them.

Duke will be one of the most fascinating programs to monitor next season as the roster is oozing with talent and potential, but there are also tons of question marks surrounding the Blue Devils heading into the 2025-26 campaign.

Most of the uncertainty revolves around the lack of experience of next season's rotation. The only upperclassman in the starting five will be junior Caleb Foster, and at least two freshmen will almost definitely be in the starting five.

And outside of pure youth itself, a lot of the buzz around Duke next season comes from potential, not production.

Foster is poised for a breakout season as a junior, receiving the same hype he did heading into his sophomore campaign, and that breakout never came. Foster struggled mightily to begin the 2024-25 season as a starter and was eventually sent to the bench in favor of Sion James.

The other returners who are expected to have much more elevated roles offensively are Isaiah Evans, Darren Harris, and Pat Ngongba II. Evans established himself as one of the best three-point shooters in the country last season, connecting on 41.6% of his attempts. However, he was strictly a 3-and-D guy. 81% of Evans' shot attempts and 78% of his makes came from beyond the arc, and now he will be thrust into a starting role where his defensive capabilities and playmaking off the ball will have to be much more prevalent.

Harris hardly saw the floor as a rookie, and Ngongba missed a good chunk with injury. Later on in the season, Ngongba began to see serious minutes and showed his talent as a rim protector and ability to run the floor in transition, but his offensive arsenal will need a ton of work throughout the summer. Harris was one of the best outside shooters in the 2025 high school class, but we just don't know how it will translate as he barely saw the court as a rookie.

Duke is bringing in several highly-touted rookies with elite scoring ability from all three levels of the floor, such as Cameron Boozer, Dame Sarr, and Nik Khamenia. However, we still have yet to see how quickly or effectively it will translate to the college game.

The Blue Devils are seen by most as a national championship contender, but there's a chance next season gets off to a slow start with the inexperience and lack of roster continuity from a season ago.