ESPN BPI laughs at the hope of Kentucky fans in the Duke matchup prediction

College fans all over the country will be tuning in tonight to watch two of the biggest blue bloods in basketball face off in the State Farm Champions Classic. The Kentucky Wildcats and the Duke Blue Devils will meet somewhere around 9 pm EST after the first game of the Champions Classic: Kansas vs. Michigan State.

Kentucky fans have every reason to be excited and hopeful for this game. They have a new coach, a new veteran-heavy team, tons of talent and depth, coming off two 100-point games. Head coach Mark Pope genuinely has a plan and wants to see it executed, and his players are responding. The season is early, and while this game will be a huge litmus test, it won't define the season. It will show both programs, no matter the winner, what they need to work on for March.

That being said, an early victory for either program would go a long way toward proving its merits as one of the top programs this season. Predictions are flying around, and most favor the #6 ranked Duke over the #19 ranked Kentucky. ESPN BPI tends to agree with a 70.5% Duke chance of winning. This is not good for Kentucky's hopes.

ESPN BPI says that Duke win's probability is 70.5%.

If you don't know what ESPN's BPI is, here is what ESPN says about their system: "The Basketball Power Index (BPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward. BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Strength of Record (SOR) is a measure of team accomplishment based on how difficult a team's W-L record is to achieve. Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day's rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections. Numbers update daily."

You need to see that definition because early in the season, it's simply guesswork, especially with all the newness of teams. Duke's best players are all freshmen and thus new, and Kentucky's best players are all transfers to the program and thus new to play with each other. This game is still tough to predict. ESPN BPI actually admits that when it says that the point differential is only 5.4, which is close to the Vegas line of 6.5. That's a down-the-stretch sort of game either way.

ESPN BPI says that this is one of the best matchups of the season with a score of 93.9.

ESPN also rates it as one of the best matchups of the early season. Its matchup quality is 93.9, which is ahead of Kansas and Michigan State, which score 92.3. These games are going to feature excellent players in a momentous matchup.