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The DePaul Blue Demons have long been a favorite team of the college basketball social media world. Maybe the most inept high-major program of the last two decades, DePaul hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since 2004. So when one AP voter put DePaul on his AP Top 25 ballot this week, fans were excited.
DePaul is 7-0 but has not beaten a team better than No. 230 in KenPom (Duquesne), and Southern Indiana took the Blue Demons to overtime in the season opener. No fan actually believes DePaul is one of the 25 best teams in the country, but this is still cause for celebration.
It's made even better by the Blue Demons' votes coming from Dave Hlas, a writer for the Cedar Rapids Gazette, whose unusual ballots have caught fans' attention each week this season. Hlas also ranked Loyola University Chicago 22nd and UC Irvine 24th, despite neither having a top-100 win.
Jaden Daly, who covers college basketball in the New York City area, gave a full rundown.
“Mike Hlas’ ballot has become a popular topic on here this year, so I’ll indulge those who want to know: He has Drake at No. 20, Loyola Chicago 22, UC Irvine 24, and Columbia 25,” he wrote.”Most importantly, he ranked DePaul at No. 23.”
“Mike Hlas OUR KING,” DePaul podcaster The DePaud wrote.
Jake Fenner, a fan of DePaul's conference-mate UConn, admitted he looks forward to Hlas' ballot each week.
“Every week, I eagerly anticipate what ballot Mike Hlas of the Cedar Rapids Gazette puts out and this week was an absolute bottom-ballot classic,” he added.
As of 2:20 p.m. ET on Monday, DePaul was trending on X. The Blue Demon's associate AD for communications, Courtney Day, wrote that “DePaul is receiving votes in the top-25 for the first time since 2020.” That year, DePaul started 9-0 with three top-30 wins before the Blue Demons came crashing back to Earth to finish 16-16.
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DePaul basketball has an entirely new look under Chris Holtmann
DePaul has undergone five coaching changes since its last tournament appearance, but in year one under former Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann, Blue Demon fans have some hope.
Holtmann completely re-did the roster, plucking transfers from around the country to replace a team that went 3-29 last year under Tony Stubblefield.
So far, it's been UIC transfer Isaiah Rivera (14.7 ppg) and Coastal Carolina transfer Jacob Meyer (14.7) leading the way. Both are shooting better than 43% from three-point range, helping push DePaul to third-best in the country in effective field goal percentage so far.
The 6'11 senior David Skogman (Davidson) has been a revelation as well with 9.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
The Blue Demons will face their first real test of the season on Wednesday when they travel to Texas Tech as part of the Big East-Big 12 battle. The Red Raiders are 6-1 on the young season and are currently 14-point favorites, per KenPom.
