College Basketball: Holiday Hoops Preview

Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports

Dec. 18 – Duke vs Connecticut

Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ (8pm on ESPN)

Duke is undefeated and seemingly on a collision course with Kentucky in the national championship. No one is talking about the Blue Devils going undefeated because that task is unfathomable in the loaded ACC, but they’re the unquestioned number one threat to Kentucky’s bid for perfection. Forgive me if this doesn’t make sense. Just bear with me. Duke is every bit as good as Kentucky — but they’re a million times more beatable. The Blue Devils lack depth. We don’t know if this is a byproduct of the bench being short on talent or Coach K being short on confidence once he looks past his top eight. There is no “white platoon” in Durham, and that’s why UConn (4-3) has to believe that this can be their season-turning upset.

The Huskies will have ample opportunity to collect wins in the pillow fight that is their conference schedule, but this will be their last opportunity to get a win worthy of scrolling across the marquee on Selection Sunday. UConn is short on both depth and talent (by their standards), but they play with a mean streak that muddles games and keeps them close, which is a good place to be when you have Ryan Boatright on your team. It’s a style that kept them close to Texas earlier in the year, and it should work well against the Blue Devils as well.

KEY TO THE GAME: If Amida Brimah stays out of foul trouble and gets Okafor into foul trouble, UConn could win this game.