Let’s hear it for the blue bloods. Duke and Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina. No, no. Not in that sport. The four schools might have a combined 23 basketball national championships, but this ain’t March.
Is No. 17 Duke for real? Let’s see what happens Saturday, because look who’s coming to Durham. Yeah, yeah, Notre Dame. But also ESPN’s College GameDay. “Not something that happens around here all the time,” coach Mike Elko said. Try never. Will Lee Corso grab a pitchfork and pick the Blue Devils to win? The last time the Duke beat the Irish in Durham was 1961, the early months of the Kennedy administration.
Is No. 24 Kansas serious about being a Big 12 contender? Texas is waiting in Austin Saturday. The Jayhawks used to make a fine and cushy opponent for Homecoming, but not anymore. Too dangerous. Like two years ago when they barged into Austin and won 57-56 in overtime. “Old news,” coach Lance Leipold said of that win this week, but the victory was pretty much the blastoff for the stunning Kansas rebirth he has directed. The Jayhawks are 11-9 since that day. In the 20 games prior to it, they were 1-19. “I am so proud of our team, our staff and the players about how we have put ourselves in a position to be respected and reckoned with,” Leipold said.
Is Kentucky as potent as it’s looked? Here comes Florida to find out. A victory would give the unranked Wildcats three wins in a row over the Gators, and that hasn’t happened in 72 years.
Only No. 15 North Carolina can relax this week, going against the Open Date Byes, after getting through South Carolina, Appalachian State, Minnesota and Pittsburgh. “Probably the hardest four games that I’ve ever played to start a season,” coach Mack Brown called it. And just down the road on the schedule are Syracuse and Miami, and they’re a combined 8-0.
Read more below
