The Duke Blue Devils will get an opportunity to prove themselves as the nation’s top team according to both pollsters and oddsmakers in less than two weeks when their season tips off in the Champions Classic.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
The Blue Devils were just named the No. 1 team in the country by the Associated Press in the preseason Top 25 poll, and they are also the +400 favorites to cut down the nets in April.
Led by senior guard Grayson Allen and top recruit Marvin Bagley III, Duke is ranked No. 1 for the second year in a row and the ninth time overall, tying the defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels for that honor. The Blue Devils received 33 out of a possible 65 first-place votes, with the second-ranked Michigan State Spartans receiving 13 and the third-ranked Arizona Wildcats picking up 18.
Duke will meet Michigan State in an early No. 1 versus No. 2 matchup on November 14 at the United Center in Chicago. The Spartans are also the +600 second choice to win this year’s national title.
The fourth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks got the other single vote, and they will square off against the fifth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats at the Champions Classic as well. All of the Top 5 teams were hit hard by early departures to the NBA, so the school that reloaded the best and can play better than all the others in March will likely end up as the national champ.
Kentucky is listed as the +750 third choice to win the Big Dance followed by Arizona (+900), Kansas (+1600), Missouri (+1600) and North Carolina (+1600).
The Tar Heels outlasted the Gonzaga Bulldogs in last year’s NCAA Tournament, and they find themselves ranked ninth nationally this year after opening the previous season at No. 6. North Carolina returns senior guard Joel Berry II, senior forward Theo Pinson and junior forward Luke Maye as upperclassmen who were key contributors on last year’s team.
However, Berry is expected to miss about a month of action after breaking his right hand while playing the video game NBA2K18 in a freak accident.
