It’s early December and the Duke basketball team still has not hosted a major matchup this season, but that’ll change on Tuesday night when the No. 4 Blue Devils welcome the defending National Champion Florida Gators inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Yet it might not feel like a typical Top 15 matchup.
The pressure is squarely on the shoulders of Duke entering the game given the fact that it gets Florida on its home court, has been one of the best teams in the country through a month, and the Gators have struggled in its title defense.
While Florida has one of the best frontcourts in the country, which should give Cameron Boozer and Pat Ngongba trouble, its newly acquired backcourt has not filled the shoes of its talented guards from a year ago.
Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee has not transitioned as smoothly as some would have thought coming to Gainesville while Arkansas transfer Boogie Fland has put up decent scoring numbers, but the efficiency has not been close to what was expected of him.
The Gators have not looked sharp this season, dropping its opener to then No. 13 Arizona, needing a second half comeback to defeat Florida State on its home floor, and coughing up a 10-point lead against TCU last week.
It all adds up to Duke being a prohibitive favorite in the game, which they are, and puts an added stress on the Blue Devils to remain perfect on its home floor.
The good news for the Blue Devils is that it has already played a game like this when facing Kansas in the Champions Classic with Jayhawks star Darryn Peterson sidelined with an injury.
Duke, which was already considered a big favorite, was a guaranteed winner in the eyes of many and Kansas gave the Blue Devils all it could handle until they pulled away late in the second half inside Madison Square Garden.
Jon Scheyer’s squad was also a surprising 10-point favorite in in Thanksgiving matchup against Arkansas and needed a late second half comeback to win the game.
It proves that nothing is a guarantee in college basketball and Florida could find the right formula against Duke, but the pressure will be all on the Blue Devils to hand the reigning champions its third loss of the season.