Heading into the 2026-27 college basketball season, Duke and Florida look like the two teams sitting at the top of the sport’s talent pile.
Both Jon Scheyer and Todd Golden have built their rosters the way teams win in this era: keep key players, then attack the transfer portal. The real question is which one opens the season at No. 1 in the AP preseason poll. And the good news for everyone is that we won’t have to wait long to see them go at it, with Duke and Florida set to meet Dec. 1 in the 2026 ACC/SEC Challenge.
Duke has every reason to feel great about how the offseason went.
The Blue Devils managed to keep a huge chunk of the group that helped them earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and win both the ACC regular-season and tournament titles. Dame Sarr, Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba are all back in the fold as starters from last season, and Duke also returns rotation guard Cayden Boozer and redshirt freshman Sebastian Wilkins.
That kind of retention is the backbone of the case for the Blue Devils. Sarr looks like one of the biggest breakout names in the country, Foster gives them the kind of lead guard every contender needs, and Ngongba should serve as the defensive anchor for a team that has a real chance to be elite on that end.
Then there’s the portal haul. Duke added John Blackwell from Wisconsin and Drew Scharnowski from Belmont, two transfers who fit the roster in different ways.
Blackwell was one of the best scoring guards in the country last season, and now he gets to be the true No. 1 option for the first time in his career. Scharnowski brings a rugged, versatile defensive presence, plus rebounding and passing from the frontcourt.
He looks like a Maliq Brown replacement on defense, only with more two-way versatility.
The incoming recruiting class only adds to the buzz. Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje could have a major role right away, while the rest of Duke’s elite freshmen figure to slide into complementary spots.
What jumps off the page is the depth. Duke’s sixth through 10th men could probably form a top-25 caliber starting five on their own. The size is there too - the 2026-27 roster averages 79 inches, or 6-foot-7 - and the Blue Devils have shooting, experience and fit all lined up on paper.
Scheyer has already stacked back-to-back ACC regular-season and tournament titles, and he’s taken Duke to two Elite Eights and a Final Four. But this feels like his best roster yet.
Still, if the question is who should be No. 1 when the preseason poll drops, Florida gets the edge.
The argument for the Gators is simple: this group has already proven it. Golden is bringing back six of his top seven scorers from a team that won the SEC by three games, earned a 1-seed and played in what might have been the best conference in the country last season.
The returnees are loaded. Thomas Haugh is back after earning All-American honors.
Rueben Chinyelu returns as SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Urban Klavzar is back after winning SEC Sixth Man of the Year.
Alex Condon, Isaiah Brown and Boogie Fland are all in the mix too.
And if Denzel Aberdeen remains eligible for 2026-27, Florida’s projected starting five could be Fland, Aberdeen, Haugh, Condon and Chinyelu. That would mean every starter either won a national championship with the Gators, was part of last year’s 1-seed team, or both.
Duke has plenty of experience from a 1-seed as well, but Florida may have the cleaner trump card. Potentially four starters, plus Klavzar and Brown off the bench, were on the team that won the 2025 national title. At some point, that kind of proof is hard to beat.
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3 Duke Players Who Could Decide The Blue Devils' Next Step
Dukes next step in 2026 may hinge less on wholesale change than on three players the program is already counting on to grow into bigger jobs. Transfer receiver Jared Richardson arrives from Penn with the clearest path to becoming the top option in the passing game, while the Blue Devils also expect the front to be strengthened by defensive lineman Davis, the highest-rated recruit in school history, who is projected to start right away.
On the other side of the ball, Nate Sheppard gives Duke a proven piece to build around after a strong freshman season, and his role figures to expand as the offense looks for a reliable primary ball carrier. Put together, those three names offer a pretty good snapshot of where the Blue Devils want their foundation to be: a veteran transfer, a marquee defensive addition and a young back ready for a heavier workload. [Read more 🡒]
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Inside the program, the early signs have been encouraging. Players have spoken about the energy around the group and the work being done to get ready for preseason and the regular season, but that optimism comes with a challenge attached. With so many bodies in the mix, Dukes next step is less about finding talent than figuring out how it all fits, and that battle is only just beginning. [Read more 🡒]