The Champions Classic tips off on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, each year featuring the same four blue blood college basketball programs. This year’s matchups will feature Michigan State vs. Kentucky at 6:30pm ET, followed by Kansas vs. Duke.
Let’s breakdown a college basketball pick from the late game between the Jayhawks and Blue Devils.
Kansas vs. Duke (Tuesday 9:00pm ET)
This was most likely slotted as the nightcap of the event because it was supposed to be a showdown between two of the elite prospects in this upcoming NBA Draft class — Darryn Peterson and Cam Boozer. But Peterson is sidelined with a hamstring injury, which has moved an already more talented Duke team out to a double digit favorite.
The Jayhawks early season test came in a true road game at North Carolina, and they looked good early, taking a 10-point lead to the locker room. However, Carolina dominated the second half, and wound up with a 13-point victory. Peterson made almost all the big plays for Kansas, finishing with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Fellow freshman Bryson Tiller was good off the bench, scoring 12 points in 15 minutes.
Against Duke’s size, Tiller should see more time in this game to fill in for Peterson. While it’s still Bill Self and Kansas, the Jayhawks just don’t have enough talent to keep up in this one. Boozer is off to a tremendous start to his college career, averaging a ridiculously balanced line — 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.8 blocks. That’s all while shooting nearly 55% from the field (36.8% from downtown) and almost 80% from the free throw line.
Boozer will be the best player on the floor in this one, but Duke goes eight more deep beyond him, and all of them can play. The Blue Devils have advantages in depth, size, shooting and have a mix of talented veterans and freshman. I just don’t see how the Jayhawks can hang around for the full game, but there are some different betting angles to consider in this one.
If you don’t want to lay a big number with Duke, you could look for a way to bet them in-game. The Blue Devils came out slow against Texas, trailing at halftime as a double digit favorite. They went on to win the game by 15 points. I like Kentucky a lot in its matchup in the early game, so I paired the Wildcats with Duke on the moneyline, and would be good with that play up to -140.
College Basketball Pick: Kentucky/Duke Moneyline Parlay (-108)
You can find my breakdown of Michigan State vs. Kentucky in the Champions Classic here.
Looking for more betting angles and analysis on college hoops? Check out the college basketball home page on DraftKings Network!
