BOZICH | ESPN's slobbering love affair with Duke always prevails — even over UK vs. Calipari

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- When in doubt, the answer at ESPN will always be Duke.

Which game should be tucked in the prime viewing spot?

Gotta be Duke.

Who should be the primary voices of ESPN's college basketball crews?

Duke guys, of course.

Which rivalry should always get the Ali/Frazier, Evert/Navratilova, Woods/Mickelson treatment — even during a season when one team (sorry, Hubert Davis) has lost nine of 22 games?

You don't have to ask. Turn on ESPN. Wait for them to roll that evergreen video of blood rolling down Tyler Hansbrough's face more than 15 years ago. Wait for them to tell you what is the best rivalry in college basketball.

At ESPN, it's always advantage Duke. I'm sure they'll tell you the Blue Devils always deliver the Nielsen numbers. 

Duke vs. North Carolina. Twice every season. No matter if one team is ranked No. 2 and the other isn't receiving any Top 25 votes (sorry, again, Hubert Davis).

On Saturday at noon, No. 5 Florida visits No. 8 Tennessee. Ken Pomeroy's Game Match metrics picked Gators vs. Vols as the top game on his Thrill Score for that day.

At 2 p.m., No. 1 Auburn goes to No. 23 Ole Miss. That's No. 4 on Pomeroy's Thrill Score, also trailing Gonzaga at St. Mary's and Kansas at Baylor.

At 6:30 p.m., unranked North Carolina journeys to No. 2 Duke.

And at 9 p.m., John Calipari brings his colossally disappointing and unranked Arkansas team to Lexington to play No. 12 Kentucky in his first appearance in Rupp Arena following 15 seasons as the UK coach.

Razorbacks vs. Wildcats is only No. 25 on KenPom's Thrill Score because Arkansas is struggling.

No reason to blush. Carolina-Duke earned the No. 31 spot on the Thrill Score, just behind Arkansas State at Texas State and Washington at Minnesota.

You didn't have to be Jay Williams' agent to predict where ESPN would dispatch its Gameday crew.

All Duke, all the time.

I get it. Five national titles. Peaceful transition of power from Coach K to Jon Scheyer. Johnny Dawkins. Christian Laettner. Bobby Hurley. Grant Hill. Cherokee Parks (oops). Shane Battier. Corey Maggette (oops), J.J. Redick. Justise Winslow (oops), Jayson Tatum. Zion Williamson. Kyle Filipowski.

And, of course, Cooper Flagg.

The Duke freshman is worthy of the hype. Flagg just turned 18 in December and his player of the year statistics at Pomeroy's analytics web site are more dazzling than the numbers Zach Edey of Purdue posted the last two seasons while winning back to back national player of the year awards for the Boilermakers

Flagg is legit. He'll make Duke a serious contender to win the school's first NCAA title since 2015 as well as its first with Scheyer in charge. Anything less than a Final Four appearance should be scored as a disappointment at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

But let's not pretend this is a compelling Duke-North Carolina game because it isn't.

Calipari's return to Lexington with D.J. Wagner, Adou Thiero, Zvonimir Ivisic and Kenny Payne while dragging a 12-8 record behind him brings more talking points.

How will Kentucky fans greet Calipari?

Cal went on his radio show this week and predicted he will get booed.

I predict he is wrong. I predict a standing ovation. I predict Kentucky's athletic department and UK fans will do whatever is necessary to show Calipari appreciation for the 15 seasons he invested in the program as well as in the state of Kentucky with his initiatives for charity.

What's wrong with Arkansas?

The Razorbacks were not picked to win the Southeastern Conference but nobody had them going 1-6. That's a topic sure to resonate with college basketball fans outside of Fayetteville and Lexington.

How has Kentucky changed post-Calipari?

In a fascinating number of ways. Mark Pope scrambled and put together a competitive roster and has his team trending toward a No. 3 or 4 seed for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Not only has Pope delivered while pivoting from Calipari's one-and-done approach, the Wildcats have won with a roster that might not have a player taken in either round of the NBA Draft in June. Heck, sources say Pope and Company started the season with a victory over Flagg and Company.

All of that sounds like Gameday material.

But not when the four-letter acronym has a slobbering love affair with the four-letter university.

Even in a year when North Carolina just followed up its losses to Stanford and Wake Forest by needing an overtime to put down hapless Boston College and then by coming from ahead to lose to Pittsburgh.

If you were drawing up the seed list for the ACC Tournament today, the Tar Heels would be a 7-seed.

If you drew up the seed list for the NCAA Tournament, the Tar Heels might be an 11. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi had North Carolina down as an 11-seed (two spots above the cut line) on Tuesday morning — hours before the Tar Heels lost at Pitt, 73-65.

So a soaring Cooper Flagg over a reeling Hubert Davis will have to carry the Saturday Gameday narrative over a fascinating Mark Pope vs. a reeling John Calipari for ESPN.


It should have been a difficult call. But nobody should be surprised that it was not a difficult call for ESPN.

Duke. Gotta be Duke.

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• CRAWFORD | No prayer? Before upset of Tennessee, turns out Kentucky had a good one
• All heart | Undermanned Kentucky outshoots No. 8 Tennessee, pulls 78-73 upset

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