Cameron Indoor Stadium – Durham, NC
Tip-off: Friday, 7:00 p.m. ET
Line: Duke -15.5

Looking to build off its Elite Eight performance from last season, No. 4 Duke will begin its season Friday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium against Davidson.

The Blue Devils have won 25 straight times in this series, but the Wildcats are 3-1 ATS in the past four meetings. But the game last year wasn't close, as the Blue Devils covered a 12.5-point spread to win 67-50 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Thirty-four of the 67 points they scored in that game, however, were put home by then-seniors Mason Plumlee, Seth Curry and Ryan Kelly, who are now gone, with those three leading the team in scoring all season. Davidson is also losing a key piece too, as Jake Cohen, who scored a game-high 19 points in the contest and is now playing in Israel, led them all year. Duke went undefeated at home last season with a 16-0 SU mark at Cameron Indoor Stadium while going 8-8 ATS. The Blue Devils were 16-1 SU and 10-7 ATS against non-conference opponents, but they have not covered in their opening game in two consecutive years. The Wildcats finished 26-8 SU and 15-15-3 ATS overall last season, including 9-4 SU and 6-7 ATS away from home. They also struggled against non-conference foes with a 4-6-2 ATS mark, but were a perfect 2-0 ATS as a road underdog. Both coaches have favorable betting trends as Bob McKillop is 44-31 ATS (59%) as a road underdog or pick as the Davidson head coach, while Mike Krzyzewski is 105-70 ATS (60%) as a home favorite of 12.5 or more points since 1992.

Can the new-look Duke team start out its season with a comfortable home win? For the latest college basketball picks, check out The Platinum Sheet for all the StatFox Experts selections every week throughout the entire 2013-14 season. StatFox Gary had an outstanding 56.1% ATS Best Bets success rate during the 2012-13 season, while StatFox Dave was also profitable at 53% ATS Best Bets.

Duke’s two most prolific scorers this season will be guys who didn’t take the court last season. Headlining the team will be freshman PF Jabari Parker, the No. 2 recruit in the nation and the two-time reigning Illinois Mr. Basketball. He’ll play the four spot for Mike Krzyzewski’s squad that will go small and run-and-gun this season, and he fits in perfectly with the rebounding capability of a power forward but the ability to score both inside and outside on the offensive end. The other leading offensive player will be transfer SF Rodney Hood, who like Parker, stands at 6-foot-8 and will play the three. As a freshman at Mississippi State two years ago, he averaged 10.3 PPG, 4.8 RPG and made 1.5 threes per game. The team’s leading returning scorer is PG Quinn Cook (11.7 PPG, 5.3 APG, 39% 3-pt FG), who is an effective distributor and should thrive in the fast-paced offense. Cook scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting in last year’s meeting with Davidson. SG Rasheed Sulaimon (11.6 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 37% 3-pt FG) is also back for his sophomore campaign after some huge games last season that helped Duke get so far in the NCAA Tournament. And don’t forget about 6-foot-9 sophomore C Amile Jefferson in the paint. Jefferson averaged 4.0 PPG and 2.9 RPG in just 12.7 MPG last season and showed what he can do with more time in the team’s last exhibition, grabbing 16 boards.

Losing Cohen, the conference’s reigning player of the year, and sharpshooter Nik Cochran will be big blows to this Wildcats squad. The key for this season's team is PF De’Mon Brooks, an incredibly effective post scorer who deferred to Cohen last season but is ready to take the reins as a senior. He averaged 15.7 PPG as a sophomore and 13.7 PPG last year, also grabbing 6.2 RPG in both of those seasons. He struggled to score against Duke last season with just eight points on 4-of-13 shooting, but exploited his opponent on the glass with 12 rebounds and added two blocks. He’s complemented well by SF Chris Czerapowicz (9.1 PPG, 5.0 RPG), who is more of an outside shooter, making 1.8 threes per game last season on a 39.0% clip. The team’s two top distributors from last season—Cochran and JP Kuhlman—are both gone this year, meaning this backcourt will have a lot of work to do. SG Tyler Kalinoski (7.6 PPG, 1.6 APG, 36% 3-pt FG) and PG Tom Droney (4.2 PPG, 2.1 APG, 8-for-43 threes) will look to fill those shoes and take this team to the top of the Southern Conference.