December 3rd 2014, 8:54pm, By: Johnny Houston
Where: Kohl Centre in Madison, Wisconsin When: Thursday, December 4th at 1:30pm AEST
It’s not often that we get treated to a battle of the heavyweights this early in the season. The nationally ranked 4th Duke Blue Devils travel to Wisconsin as 3.5 point underdogs and they will need to be at their best to beat this determined Badgers team.
Something’s gotta give!
Both Duke and Wisconsin are a perfect 7-0 and both also have meaningful wins against similar opponents. Duke disposed of Michigan State (ranked 19th) and Wisconsin took care of Oklahoma (ranked 22nd). The National rankings have Wisconsin ranked at 2 and Duke at 4 but interestingly the Coaches Poll has Duke at 2 and Wisconsin at 4.
Battle of the Bigs!
Even the Big Boys are evenly matched. Badgers senior centre Frank Kaminsky will take on freshman centre Jahlil Okafor. I watched Okafor against Michigan State and he looked NBA ready (on offense at least) although he will be tested here against the Wisconsin shooters. Duke will most likely play a zone defense when Okafor is on the court and this is where I believe the Badgers will expose Okafor and the Duke defense.
Duke won the first 10 games against Wisconsin although the last meeting between them (2009) resulted in a 73-69 home win for the Badgers. This will also be a very tight game but I have Wisconsin pulling away late for the cover.
Johnny Houston has been part of the Before You Bet team since 2014 and loves nothing more than sweating the early morning action from the US - whether it's NBA, NFL, Golf or even College football and basketball. Johnny has a knack for spotting talent and doesn't mind taking a flier on someone at juicy odds if the value is there!
When he's not finding winners, you'll find Johnny hustling on the golf course.
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