The Duke basketball program will renew its rivalry with the Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday night in Atlanta but the meeting between the teams will look quite different.
Neither Mike Krzyzewski nor John Calipari will be involved. Instead, it will be Jon Scheyer against Mark Pope, who took over for Calipari after several successful seasons at BYU.
However, this will be Pope's first big game as the head coach of Kentucky. He wanted the job in Lexintgon for these moments and he will try and prove to the nation that he is ready for the challenge in knocking off a Blue Devil team that has a lot of eyes on it.
Tipoff will be approximately 30 minutes following the completion of Kansas and Michigan State, which begins at 6:30 p.m. ET (ESPN).
Both teams dominated its two games to begin the season as the Blue Devils dispatched Maine and Army while the Wildcats hung 100 points on Wright State and Bucknell. Things will not be as easy for either side on Tuesday but someone will leave with a 3-0 record.
Here are some of the biggest matchups to watch when the ball is tipped off.
Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor vs. Kentucky backcourt
Surprisingly, there has not been much talk centered around Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster for the Blue Devils despite the duo being the only two players that returned from last season. Everything has been focused on the freshmen stars who have shined in their college debuts.
However, if Duke leaves Atlanta with a victory Proctor and Foster will play a major role.
Duke does not have much on-ball guard depth behind the two players while Kentucky has built a very deep guard rotation that has Koby Brea, one of the most coveted transfers in the portal this offseason, coming off the bench.
Brea is leading Kentucky in scoring with 19.0 points per game and shooting an inconceivable 83.3-percent (10-of-12) from 3-point range. Otega Oweh, an Oklahoma transfer, is starting for Kentucky and has posted 15.5 points per game on 42.9-percent shooting.
The offensive numbers are inflated because of the competition but Kentucky's key backcourt pieces have averaged 55.5 points per game. Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster will have its hands full defensively trying to slow down the Wildcats.