Kentucky Wildcats vs. Duke Blue Devils... Coach Cal vs. Coach K... Two top-10 teams collide in Madison Square Garden with decades of history behind them and both chasing the trail to this year’s national title.

While that day is just under five months away, the road to greatness officially begins tonight in New York City. Which team is your pick to kick off the season with a win?

Odds

Duke is a 1-point favorite via DraftKings. However, ESPN’s Basketball Power Index is giving Kentucky a 62.5% chance of victory. The game total opened at 147.5 and has yet to move up or down. Betting the Wildcats to win outright currently sits at +105 while the Blue Devils are -125 to win the season opener.

Betting Trends

Kentucky

• Kentucky is 3-11-1 ATS in their last 15 games.
• The total has gone OVER in 8 of Kentucky’s last 10 games.
• Kentucky is 5-10 SU in their last 15 games.
• Kentucky is 1-4 SU in their last 5 games against Duke.
• The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Kentucky’s last 8 games against an opponent in the Atlantic Coast conference.
• Kentucky is 13-2 SU in their last 15 games played in November.
• Kentucky is 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games played on a Tuesday.
• Kentucky is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games when playing as the underdog.
• Kentucky is 9-2 SU in their last 11 games played on a Tuesday when playing on the road.

Duke

• Duke is 6-3 ATS in their last 9 games.
• The total has gone OVER in 9 of Duke’s last 12 games.
• Duke is 6-3 SU in their last 9 games.
• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Duke’s last 5 games against Kentucky.
• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Duke’s last 5 games against an opponent in the Southeastern conference.
• Duke is 18-2 SU in their last 20 games played in November.
• Duke is 2-9 ATS in their last 11 games played on a Tuesday.
• Duke is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games when playing as the favorite.
• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Duke’s last 6 games played on a Tuesday when at home.

Expert Picks

• OddsShark — Duke 73, Kentucky 71
• TeamRankings — Duke 74, Kentucky 73
• Kyle Wood/SI — Duke to cover and over 148.5 points scored
• Jordy McElroy/Winners and Whiners — Duke to cover
• Tanner McGrath/Lineups — Duke to cover
• Matt Norlander/CBS Sports — Kentucky 71, 65
• Jeff Borzello/ESPN — Duke 71, Kentucky 68
• Rich Bozich/WDRB — Duke 73, Kentucky 68
• Darrell Bird/The Cats’ Pause — Kentucky 88, Duke 79
• John Clay/The Herald-Leader — Duke 76, Kentucky 72
• Ben Roberts/The Herald-Leader — Duke 75, Kentucky 68

Prediction

Kentucky didn’t exactly play well on Friday en route to wrapping up their short exhibition season. A narrow win over Miles College doesn’t build much confidence against Duke. However, Calipari is a big-game coach and watched his team put together the worst basketball season this program has seen in nearly 100 years last season. He’ll have Kentucky — the deeper team — ready for one of the sport’s biggest stages in Madison Square Garden.

Final Score: Kentucky 73, Duke 68