When this year’s ACC-SEC Challenge games were announced, there was very clearly a marquee game.
The Duke Blue Devils hosting the defending National Champion Florida Gators.
As one of the biggest brands in the sport, with one of the most famous home court environments, Duke is always going to lead the way in terms of eyeballs on events like this–and they also will have the chance to play the best SEC teams, and that meant getting their shot at the defending National Champion. During the later years of the SEC-Big 12 Challenge the Gators weren’t exactly getting the most elite matchups–a symptom of where they were in the league’s hierarchy–and in the first year of the ACC-SEC Challenge it was the same story. However, now things have changed, and when it was announced that Duke would host Florida it immediately became one of the most hyped non-conference matchups in the sport.
For Florida (5-2), this game is about the opportunity to prove that they can compete and win against the best teams in the sport. They have only had one opportunity against a clear NCAA Tournament team in Arizona (who looks like they could compete for a Final Four), and they fell just short. Their other high-major games have come against teams that were not projected to be NCAA Tournament teams going into the season (we’ll see if TCU can make the field), and because of that it is tough to know just how good Florida’s wins are. With Duke being one of the title favorites, this will be Florida’s chance to show their ceiling and just what kind of team they are.
Duke (8-0) is also looking to add a big win. They scheduled some big names for this year’s non-conference slate but all of them (Texas, Kansas, and Arkansas) haven’t been as good as expected preseason, and the Blue Devils want some big wins to boost their resume and their chance at a number one overall seed.
For whatever it’s worth, Florida does not currently fit that criteria. The NET rankings were just released and the Gators came in at 33rd–showing the advanced metrics did not look kindly upon their loss to TCU and the tight win over Florida State. Clearly it’s way too early to really read into these rankings, but it’s worth pointing out what the perception of them might be at the moment, but that would change rapidly with a road win at Duke.
The Blue Devils are coming off a 35-4 season where many people talked about them as one of the best college teams ever, led by freshman phenom Cooper Flagg. It looked like Duke and Florida were on a clear path to facing off against each other in the National Championship game, but Duke collapsed against Houston and ended up losing in the Final Four. Most of the pieces from that team have moved on, but of course–it’s Duke, so they reload.
Namely, they reloaded with Cameron Boozer, one of the top high school players in the class and someone who the Gators recruited heavily and even believed they had a great chance to land. So far, the 6’9”, 250 pound Boozer has been as good as advertised. Heading into the Florida game Boozer is averaging 22.9 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.1 blocks, and he is leading Duke in every one of those categories which speaks to his well-rounded game and absurd levels of production. What makes Boozer so interesting as a player and as a prospect is the fact that he isn’t your typical top recruit that is stacking up highlight reel plays, he is incredibly fundamentally sound and he devastates his opponents with footwork, skill, and pure muscle. Most of his buckets are mid-post face ups where he stares down a defender, creates contact, then spins effortlessly into space where he finishes with a layup. These aren’t plays that are going to make it to Sportscenter, but they are efficient scoring actions he has gotten to over, and over, and over again. Not particularly long or athletic, Boozer is mostly a below the rim player and it will be interesting to see how he can use his low center of gravity against Florida’s longer, taller bigs. There is a good chance he’ll really cause the Gators issues with his physicality, though Florida will be able to recover late with their length and bother him. Boozer has had some struggles finishing around the rim, and the height that the Gators have at both frontcourt positions could make for some blocked shots and bothered attempts.
Joining Boozer in the frontcourt is Patrick Ngongba who has also played a key role averaging 12.8 points and 6.5 rebounds, coming in as Duke’s second highest scorer. At 6’11” and 250 pounds he also is a tough customer in the frontcourt that will match up well with Florida’s front line. Ngongba started his career as a run and jump rebounder and lob catcher, but he’s now being utilized as a post up threat and it’s likely that he will be utilized in certain matchups against the Gators.
This is somewhat of a unique Duke team in that they don’t play through their guards a ton and don’t have a clear stud in the backcourt, and their strength has absolutely been the two bigs down low. Look for the Blue Devils to pick whatever matchup they like on the block and play through it–and of course, that will likely be Boozer.
Overall, Duke’s biggest strength is their defense. They will often play 6’5”, 6’6”, 6’8”, 6’9”, and 6’11” lineups, with those rangy athletes on the wing being NBA style three-and-D players that are there to compete for stops. Driving lanes and passing windows are tough to come by for Duke’s opponents, and it results in a lot of deflected passes and turnovers that end up with dunks on the other end. Florida has had their fair share of turnover issues and that will be tested more than ever against Duke, and they’ll have to have a plan in place for how to attack what is definitely the best defense they have faced so far.
Entering the 2025-26 season Florida was hungry to show that they would be in the mix to compete for a back to back Championship and so far they haven’t shown that level of play. If they want to turn things around, that starts by playing one of the best teams in the country on the road and having a great showing.
Florida and Duke will tip off at 7:30 ET on Tuesday, December 2nd, and it will be televised on ESPN.