Florida and Duke set to meet Dec. 1
The two highest-ranked teams will face off at the ACC-SEC Challenge, with both entering the game expected to be undefeated.
By Ayanda Boateng ·
College basketball has produced a clear hierarchy at the top of the current season. Two programs have separated themselves from the rest of the field in every major metric, and they are scheduled to collide in the coming weeks.
The Associated Press Top 25 poll, the Coaches Poll, KenPom.com, and BartTorvik.com all list Florida and Duke as the top two teams in the nation. CBS Sports daily rankings place the Gators at No. 1 and the Blue Devils at No. 2. Both teams won their Thursday games by wide margins. Florida defeated Jacksonville 88-57, while Duke beat Coastal Carolina 113-52.
Both squads are now 2-0 on the season. Their performance metrics reflect the gap between them and the rest of the country. According to KenPom, both teams maintain net-ratings above 34.03. No other team in the sport currently holds a net-rating above +31.57.
The matchup will take place on Dec. 1 at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida. The ACC-SEC Challenge organizers prioritized this meeting, pairing the reigning conference champions against each other. Projections suggest both teams will enter the game undefeated. Florida is expected to be 6-0, while Duke is projected to be 7-0.
The coaching matchup adds another layer to the game. Florida head coach Todd Golden, 41, is less than two years removed from winning a national championship. He is currently considered a favorite to win another title in 2027. Duke head coach Jon Scheyer, 39, holds the record for the most wins in the first four years of a Division I men's basketball coaching career.
Scheyer won 124 games during his first four seasons at Duke. Both Golden and Scheyer are regarded as the two best coaches under the age of 45 in college basketball right now. They will face each other again in three weeks after their Dec. 1 meeting.
The conference challenge structure has placed these two specific programs in direct competition. The scheduling ensures that the best team according to current data will face the second-best team in a home-road environment during the first month of December.
