Duke vs. Kentucky Preview; How to watch, prediction, best bet

The No. 6 ranked Duke Blue Devils take on the No. 19 ranked Kentucky Wildcats in the second-half of the Champions Classic double header from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA on Tuesday. Both squads come into 2024 with a brand new look from what they looked like a season ago. Duke boasts a pair of electrifying freshman hoping to lead the Blue Devils to their first National Championship since 2015, while Kentucky enters the post-John Calipari era after the legendary head coach took the Wildcats into battle every year since he was hired in 2009.

While both of these teams have championship aspirations, Duke has shown enough early on in the season to become 5.5-point favorites heading into this matchup of ‘Blue Blood’ programs. Read down below for our full guide and preview ahead of this SEC/ACC showdown.

How to watch

The entire Champions Classic is exclusively on ESPN and the ESPN App. Duke vs. Kentucky tips off at 9:00 PM Eastern time. Dan Schulman and Jay Bilas have the play-by-play duties, while Jess Sims provides reports from the sideline.

Kentucky Wildcats Team Preview

Kentucky has begun the post-Calipari era 2-0 under new head coach Mark Pope. The former Wildcat guard turned successful head coach most recently took a BYU team to the NCAA Tournament in its first season in the basketball powerhouse that is the BIG 12 conference. Pope inherited a nearly completely overhauled roster, which is led by the backcourt of Koby Brea and Otega Oweh.

Both players bring an abundance of experience to the SEC, with Brea spending a full four years with NCAA Tournament mainstay Dayton. Oweh on the other hand burst onto the scene with a double-digit scoring season at Oklahoma a year ago. Both players figure to lead the Wildcats in scoring throughout the season, and they are currently accounting for 34.5 points per game.

The Wildcats front court may be even more talented. Drexel transfer Amari Williams, Wake Forest transfer Andrew Carr, and BYU transfer Jaxson Robinson, who followed Pope to Lexington, all stand well over 6-foot-5 and offer elite rebounding and inside scoring.

Pope’s Wildcats, unlike the previous Calipari versions, offer a ridiculous amount of experience playing high level basketball. That alone could help Kentucky finally overcome its recent NCAA Tournament shortcomings.

Duke Blue Devils Team Preview

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Duke Blue Devils have assembled a super team loaded with freshman level talent. The wild part is, this might be the best freshman the Blue Devils had EVER had.

Led by 18-year-old phenom Cooper Flagg, the Blue Devils are one of the early betting favorites to cut down the nets in March. Behind Flagg (15.5 points per game) and fellow freshman Kon Knueppel (18.5 points per game), the Blue Devils have won their first two games against Maine and Army by an average of 40 points.

Between Flagg, Knueppel, and junior guard Tyrese Proctor (12 points per game), Duke has possibly the best ‘Big 3’ in the country. That trio should offer enough scoring alone to keep Duke in any contest this season, while freshman Khaman Maluach – who we may see competing for South Sudan in the next Olympic Games – provides the rim protection with his 7-foot-2 frame. Mason Gillis, Caleb Foster, and Sion James also give head coach Jon Scheyer with scoring options off the bench, giving the Blue Devils one of the best, and most scary, college basketball teams we’ve seen this decade.

Best bet.

Duke is absolutely loaded but Kentucky has a starting five full of players with at least big game conference tournament experience. I trust in what Mark Pope has built with the Wildcats because of what he’s been able to build throughout his college basketball coaching career. Rick Pitino, who is on my ‘Mount Rushmore’ of college basketball coaches, called Pope’s hiring “incredible”. I’m trusting his judgement, and because of that, I am giving out the Wildcats (+5.5), OVER 77.5 points, and Kentucky to win outright (+200).

Prediction

Mark Pope’s Wildcats get it done, 84-82.