Duke basketball: Confirmation concerning Champions Classic contests

The Duke basketball schedule is far from set, but one date appears certain.

Jeff Goodman, a college hoops insider for Stadium, reiterated on Tuesday the scheduled date, matchups, and location for the 2020 Champions Classic, an annual two-game event that always includes Duke basketball plus fellow bluebloods Kentucky, Kansas, and Michigan State.

In the first nine years since the showcase’s 2011 inception, the teams — rotating opponents each year — have battled in Chicago, Atlanta, New York, and Indianapolis, each time within the first three weeks of November (the Blue Devils are 6-3 at the event, and in light of last year’s season-opening win over the Jayhawks, they’ve beaten each of the other three schools at least once).

This year, though, as Goodman confirmed from his most recent sources, the Champions Classic will be on Dec. 1 in Orlando. Presumably, the games will take place without in-person fans — outside of maybe family members — inside the same bubble that the NBA currently occupies within Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex.

Though the times are not yet known, it’s a safe bet ESPN will ensure both star-studded contests (all four teams are all but certain to start the year inside AP Poll’s top 20) are in primetime; typically, they tip at roughly 7 and 9:30 p.m. We do know, though, that the planned pairings have not changed for this go-round: Duke vs. Michigan State and then Kentucky vs. Kansas.

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Plus, it now seems that the Champions Classic definitely won’t consist of more than two total games, despite a push by fans and some in the media for each squad to squeeze in three outings via a round-robin. Rather, Goodman’s related tweet noted that the Jimmy V Classic (Gonzaga vs. Tennessee and Baylor vs. Rutgers) will take place the next day in the same location.

What else we know about the 2020-21 Duke basketball schedule

One thing we do know for sure is that nothing in 2020 is ever set in stone until it actually happens.

That said, in regards to Duke’s 2020-21 schedule, the only penciled-in dates are the Champions Classic plus the Blue Devils’ multi-team event, Dec. 4-5, in Durham; the only known invitee to the latter is Howard, which has former Blue Devil Kenny Blakeney as its second-year head coach.

We also know that the NCAA has set Nov. 25 as the earliest possible start date for college basketball. But at this point, we don’t yet know if Duke will take the court prior to the Champions Classic. There are, however, two opponents that the Blue Devils agreed to host — pre-pandemic plans — in Appalachian State (no date set) and Cleveland State (Dec. 18).

Beyond all that, all we have to go on for the moment is the NCAA’s intention to limit all programs to 27 regular-season games this season while leaving them the option to play as few as 25. And with respect to the Blue Devils and each of the other ACC teams, 20 of those games will come in conference play (no dates are known for those either).

Assuming the Blue Devils stick with plans to play Appalachian State and Cleveland State — in addition to the Champions Classic, of course — they will need to schedule two, three, or four more outings, but it’s likely at least two will come from the Dec. 4-5 event that Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski first proposed earlier this month.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more on the 2020-21 Duke basketball schedule plus other news and views regarding all things Blue Devils.