ESPN College GameDay picks two early favorites to represent as national champion

Kentucky and Duke aren’t scheduled to face each other on the hardwood this season, but already some analysts are envisioning a potential meeting deep in the NCAA Tournament. Both have the profile of a potential national champion.

The ESPN College GameDay crew spent some time debating the top teams ahead of some monster showdowns on Tuesday night. No. 12 Kentucky will take on No. 17 Michigan State, then No. 5 Duke will take on No. 24 Kansas.

“I’m going to stay with the Duke theme, and I think that all starts with Carlos Boozer‘s son, Cameron Boozer,” said analyst Jay Williams, picking one of his top title contenders. “I frankly think he might be the most skilled big man that Duke has had, maybe ever. You go back to Jahlil Okafor, you go back to Elton Brand. Sheldon Williams I know was a national player of the year but was more of a defensive player.”

Boozer certainly is just that good for Duke, but there will probably be some ebbs and flows to his season. It’s only natural for freshmen, even ones as talented as him.

Still, Williams sees Boozer as a key piece on a potential national champion squad. He’s just that good.

“It’s almost as if Cameron Boozer is Al Horford and a little bit of Tim Duncan,” Williams said. “He can do it off the dribble, he can shoot shots from the outside. He’s leading Duke in five statistical categories. Now I’m not saying he’s going to reach the ceiling of Tim Duncan or Al Horford… I’m saying the way he plays inside and out.

“I just think it’s attributable to the way he can play inside and out and how he can be involved in dribble handoffs. He leads his team in assists per game, he leads his team in rebounds per game. Points per game, blocks per game. He just does everything for them. And it’s untraditional for Duke, because they’re playing inside-out. Yeah, I know they play five-out, but they have to play through it on the block.”

But what about some other national champion contenders? Like Kentucky?

The Wildcats lost a tough game against rival Louisville, but that might have shown Kentucky what it needs to do moving forward. It can be a definite learning experience.

Fellow College GameDay analyst Seth Greenberg provided his analysis on how Kentucky can become a national champion. It’s a simple path on paper.

“Kentucky learns to defend consistently, that will be their superpower,” Greenberg said. “Because without defending they cannot win a national championship. If they defend, they make enough shots and play up and down, Rece (Davis), your type of team, if they defend they can cut down the nets.”