The matchups for the 2026 ACC/SEC Challenge were released earlier this week, and the Duke Blue Devils will face Florida for the second year in a row.
Florida came to Cameron Indoor Stadium last season as a part of the event, where Duke won 67-66 after Isaiah Evans nailed a three-pointer with mere seconds to spare. This time around, Jon Scheyer's club will head to Exactech Arena in a contest that will present an elite home environment.
A marquee early-season matchup on the road will grant Duke an opportunity to seal a huge resume-building win in early December, especially considering the Gators seem to be the frontrunner to enter the 2026-27 campaign as the No. 1 team in the land.
This matchup could turn out to be the top game of the entire college basketball season, although this is one of many big-time games for Duke before conference play even rolls around. However, this specific bout presents an elite positional matchup.
Duke and Florida Will Clash With Two Best Frontcourts in College Basketball
Florida is returning six of its top seven scorers from the 2025-26 season, headlined by the elite frontcourt trio of Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, and Rueben Chinyelu.
The three combined for over 40 points, over 20 rebounds, and over three blocks a night for the Gators last season. Haugh, Chinyelu, and Condon were First-, Second-, and Third-Team All-SEC selections in 2025-26, and Chinyelu earned the SEC Defensive Player of the Year award.
According to KenPom, Florida ranked sixth nationally last season in adjusted defensive efficiency, eighth nationally in opponent two-point field goal percentage (45.1), and second in offensive rebounding percentage (43.3). The majority of that production will return to Gainesville next season.
Florida will enter the 2026-27 campaign with the undoubted best frontcourt unit in the entire sport, but there might not be a better big man corps in the nation to contend with it than the Blue Devils.'
Jon Scheyer Built an Elite Frontcourt This Offseason
Patrick Ngongba, a projected first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, elected to come back to school for another season and has a chance to be one of the most impactful defensive bigs in the ACC. The 6'11" big man averaged over a block a night last season and ranked ninth nationally, according to EvanMiya.com, in Defensive Bayesian Performance Rating.
Scheyer is also bringing in Drew Scharnowski from Belmont and incoming seven-foot rookie Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje. Drew Scharnowski averaged over two stocks a night last season for the Bruins en route to earning First-Team All-Missouri Valley Conference and All-MVC Defensive Team accolades.
Boumtje Boumtje, despite just turning 17, already projects as an elite rim protector with the ability to guard multiple positions on the floor.
Duke has the length and personnel to contend with the three-headed monster that is Florida's big men, but it will take an intense level of physicality from the Blue Devils to keep the Gators from dominating the interior.
The Blue Devils against the Gators will be the ultimate heavyweight clash down low, and it will provide Scheyer and Co. with a huge opportunity on the non-con slate.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/duke as Duke/Florida Non-Conference Bout Presents Elite Position Battle.