ESPN decided to broadcast ‘Gameday’ from the Carrier Dome. (From Watch ESPN)

People in Syracuse, N.Y., have been talking about this college basketball game since the schedule was announced.

The Syracuse Orange plays the Duke Blue Devils in the Carrier Dome, with tipoff at 6:30 p.m.

T-shirts have been sold to mark the occasion.

Students have been camping out in the bitter cold for more than two weeks, owning their spot in line to get the best seats in the student section.

Syracuse, you see, is ranked No. 2 in the nation, with a record of 20-0. The first two times the Orange has reached that mark, Syracuse lost. So Coach Jim Boeheim’s bunch is angling to set a school record.

And Duke is Duke. Coach K, Mike Krzyzewski, is the only coach in history with more career victories than Boeheim.

This is the first season for Syracuse as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Traditions are being made. This will be quite the rivalry.

Syracuse is in first place alone in the ACC with a league record of 7-0. Duke has been on a roll of late, with an overall record of 17-4 and a league mark of 6-2.

The attendance has already been announced, because it will be a sell-out. Tonight, 35,446 fans will jam the Carrier Dome, breaking the attendance record for the football-turned-basketball stadium.

Fans not lucky enough to score a ticket will be watching all over Central New York. My dear wife Karen and I will taking a trip three blocks over to watch with 680 other fans on the big screen in the Palace Theatre, which is opening its doors for the event with no admission charge.

The big daily published a Beat Duke poster Thursday, and it’s hanging on windows around town.

It’s seven hours from game time, and ESPN’s ‘Gameday’ has caught the fever to show the nation.

Call it fun on the first of February.