That's because the Crimson has an appointment Monday night in Durham, N.C. with the nation's sixth-ranked Duke squad.

The powerful Blue Devils, who a year ago got a mighty big scare from Harvard in an 89-86 Duke win, will use the Crimson as a breather from a hectic Atlantic Coast Conference schedule that's resulted in three losses in the last five games.

Harvard, winners of seven consecutive games on the road, will be making its first appearance in Duke's famed Cameron Indoor Stadium.

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Duke is the nation's sixth-ranked team in the Associated Press Poll, but according to USA Today's College Basketball Mathematical Ratings, Duke is the nation's second-ranked team.

Now according to those very same mathematical ratings, Harvard is the nation's 156th-ranked team.

That might sound pretty dubious for the Crimson, but consider for a second that in the last two weeks Harvard--the Ivy League's highest rated team--has actually jumped 36 spots.

Then consider that in the last two weeks Duke has fallen from number one to number two.

At least Harvard's going in the right direction.

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Judging by those very same mathematical ratings, which count only Division I games and which take into account schedule strength and margin of victory, Harvard's schedule is the weakest in the country among the 292 Division I teams.

Then again, you've got remember that's as much a result of the poor records of just about every Ivy League team Harvard has played as it is the result of purposely scheduling weaker opponents.

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If not for a 62-60 heartbreaking loss to Dartmouth last month, Harvard would be 11-0.

Couple that with recent losses by Georgetown and Duke, and Harvard would have been the nation's only undefeated team.