While the stakes might not be as high as last season, the Carrier Dome crowd will be no less loud when the Syracuse Orange (16-8) take the floor against the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils (21-3) today at 6:00 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN and ESPN3 with Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas on the call.
The all-time series between the two schools is tied at 3-3 after last year’s split in the debut of the ACC rivalry. Syracuse won at home, 91-89 in overtime, and Duke claimed a 66-60 triumph in Durham.
The crowd of 35,446 will tie the NCAA record for largest on-campus crowd, set at last year’s Dome game. All of those eyes with be on Syracuse center Rakeem Christmas (18.0 PPG, 9.3 RPG) and Duke center Jahlil Okafor (18.0 PPG, 9.1 RPG), who will square off in a battle of Naismith Trophy Midseason Top 30 members.
Our full preview of the game and match-ups can be found right here.
We're pretty split on what we think will happen in the game.
Check our our Q&A with Duke Basketball Report for some inside intel.
If the post-season ineligible Orange win, does that warrant a court-storming?
Leave your pre-, in- and post-game comments below. G'ORANGE!