Duke released their non-conference schedule on Monday, and as we’ve come to expect from the Blue Devils, it’s made up primarily of buy games and showcase events.
The big one is the Phil Knight Invitational, an event in Portland over Thanksgiving weekend that will feature two eight-team tournaments that run concurrently. The field for that event looked stronger when the event was announced than it does today, but at the very least Duke should end up playing two tournament teams.
They’ll also get a shot against Michigan State in the Champions Classic. The Spartans will be a potential preseason No. 1 team in the country with the front runner for Preseason National Player of the Year in Miles Bridges. That will be one of the best games of the year.
Beyond that, Duke does play two road games, although they come at Indiana in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and at St. John’s, neither of whom are all that intimidating.
The rest of the games the Blue Devils play come in the form of buy games against overmatched mid-major programs.
Anyway, here is the full schedule:
Fri, Nov. 10 vs. Elon
Sat, Nov. 11 vs. Utah Valley
Tue, Nov. 14 vs. Michigan State, Chicago, Ill. (Champions Classic)
Fri, Nov. 17 vs. Southern
Mon, Nov. 20 vs. Furman
Phil Knight Invitational (Portland, Ore.)
- Thu, Nov. 23 vs. Portland State
- Fri, Nov. 24 vs. Butler/Texas
- Sun, Nov. 26 TBD
Wed, Nov. 29 at Indiana (ACC/Big Ten Challenge)
Sat, Dec. 02 vs. South Dakota
Tue, Dec. 05 vs. Saint Francis (Pa.)
Wed, Dec. 20 vs. Evansville
Sat, Feb. 03 at St. John’s