Stanford Hosts No. 6 Duke with Eyes on Another Upset

Stanford has taken down No. 16 Louisville and No. 14 North Carolina in their last two home games

Jan 14, 2026; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal guard Ryan Agarwal (11) dribbles against North Carolina Tar Heels forward Jarin Stevenson (15) in the first half at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

On Wednesday night, Stanford took down No. 14 North Carolina in a huge home win to improve to 14-4 overall, 3-2 in ACC play, and 2-1 against top 25 opponents. The Cardinal have now won three of their past four, with a sole loss coming at No. 23 Virginia. Other than that, they're absolutely rolling.

Stanford is playing their best basketball of the year, but now are faced with potentially the toughest challenge of them all: The sixth ranked Duke Blue Devils. Will the Cardinal be able to pull off yet another upset victory?

Duke is an incredible team, as they tend to show year after year. They have gone 16-1 to begin the year, and have put up incredible performances against No. 24 Kansas, No. 22 Arkansas, No. 15 Florida, No. 7 Michigan State, No. 20 Louisville, and No. 24 SMU, winning them all.

Their sole loss came against No. 19 Texas Tech, where they fell by just a single point. Duke is an incredible 8-1 in quad one matchups, and if it wasn’t for such a top-heavy college basketball season, the Blue Devils would be considered a favorite to win the national title.

Leading the Blue Devils is college basketball’s best player in the country, Cameron Boozer. Boozer is averaging 22.8 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game this season, and is running away with national player of the year. But while he is their star, Duke has plenty of depth around him to help, making them a pretty complete team.

Isaiah Evans is averaging 14.6 points, Patrick Ngongba II is also in double figures with 10.8, and Caleb Foster is right behind them at 9.5. Even guys like Dame Sarr and Nikolas Khamenia have contributed as well. All of these players have been crucial pieces to the immense success that Duke has achieved this season.

It seems like every season Duke has freshmen dominating the squad, and that’s the case once again this year. Cam Boozer, his brother Cayden, Ngongba II, Sarr, and Khamenia are all in their first years, proving why they all deserve to be NBA prospects in the near future.

Both teams matched up last season in Durham, NC, where the Blue Devils dominated. Despite a slow start, Duke built a massive lead, and ended up destroying the Cardinal, 105-70. However, this season may be a different story. Stanford is much better, they're at home, and potentially can give the Blue Devils a battle.

Duke comes in with exactly a 90% chance to win per ESPN, which gives the Cardinal a much more slim chance to pull out a victory than when they matched up against UNC earlier this week.

We are going to pick the Blue Devils in a close one, 88-83. While Stanford has been dominant at home over the last few games, Duke is a whole different story, and will give the Cardinal a tough time at Maples.

Most importantly, if Chisom Okpara is out on Saturday, it’s going to be tough to guard Boozer, just like it was with Wilson on Wednesday. Okpara is listed as questionable heading into the game.

This one should end up being a shootout, and potentially the game of the year, so make sure to tune in to this battle on Saturday afternoon at Maples.