Fourth-ranked Duke and second-ranked Kentucky square off in Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse as part of the State Farm Champions Classic, which features four of the country’s best teams in action.
This game, which follows the opener between the 10th ranked Michigan State and No. 1 Kansas, is going to be on ESPN and scheduled to start at 9:30 Eastern Time. The Wildcats are two-point favorites despite the fact that Duke this season has one of the most hyped lineups in a long time.
The Blue Devils are among the favorites to win it all, but tonight they’re the underdogs against a Kentucky team that’s almost as talented but has a lot more experience.
Why is there so much hype around Duke? Because the Blue Devils have never seen a freshman class quite like this. In RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish, and Zion Williamson, Duke arguably will have the top three players of the class of 2018, all on the same roster.
This Duke group might become the first program in college basketball history to have three top 5 picks in the same NBA draft. This is undoubtedly an incredibly talented roster but they’re so reliant on their freshmen that asking them to play on opening night against a top 5 team such as Kentucky and win is perhaps too much.
The Wildcats are not as reliant on freshmen as they have several returning players that provide them with great balance and experience and should be enough to beat Duke tonight. Of course, Duke could always pull an upset, but it will be very tough for them to do so against a Kentucky team that is expected to hustle and be very physical from start to finish.
Kentucky leads the all-time series 12-9, but Duke has won seven of the past nine meetings. These two teams have only met twice since 2001, with both games being in the Champions Classic.
Prediction: Talent wise this is a close matchup, but because experience should be no bigger advantage at any point in the season than it is on opening night, we expect Kentucky to win 80-77.
