Phil D’Abbraccio (19-5): Duke 79, Syracuse 71
Put up your Dukes
Get your popcorn ready. This showdown may not provide quite the thrill of last year’s spectacles, but all things considered — another sold-out Carrier Dome audience even though Syracuse isn’t the team it was last year and won’t be submitting a resume to the NCAA Tournament committee — I expect to be entertained. Rakeem Christmas will play under the brightest spotlights of his senior year with the likely national player of the year fighting him down low. Christmas will hold his own, but Jahlil Okafor has too many weapons around him for Duke to leave Syracuse without a win. Syracuse will last quite a few rounds in this one, but the team that has something tangible to play for performs like it down the stretch.

Jesse Dougherty (19-5): Duke 75, Syracuse 66
Not today
Like it has so many times this season, Syracuse puts in an upset bid but falters in the final five minutes. This one stings with a full Carrier Dome hanging onto every possession, but Okafor and Duke’s cast of outside shooters are too much to handle in this one. Expect the Orange to pay most of its attention to Okafor and defending the high post, only to turn around and see Justise Winslow, Quinn Cook and Matt Jones hitting the game’s most important shots. A year and change after beating the Blue Devils 91-89 in what Jim Boeheim called the best game in the Dome’s history, SU can only flirt with magic on Valentine’s Day.

Jacob Klinger (20-4): Duke 68, Syracuse 58
Devil went down to the Dome
Look, Duke is just better. The Blue Devils are every bit as physical as the Orange, deeper still, and while Christmas can more than hold his own – heck, Tyler Roberson could even have one of his games – SU loses this one in the backcourt. That’s where the Orange starts to lose its grip on all its games against elite teams. Trevor Cooney can heat up and Michael Gbinije can stay on his current scoring tear, but I just don’t see SU having enough goodness to go around.