Duke basketball: Blue Devils confirm date of first game

Apparently, the Duke basketball team will play on Nov. 25, but against who?

While there are still plenty of questions surrounding the final makeup of the 2020-21 Duke basketball schedule, it does appear as if the program itself is confident about the tipoff date. As for who the opponent will be in the first game — not to mention the venue — well, nobody seems to know.

Nevertheless, on Sunday afternoon, freshman combo guard DJ Steward tweeted pics of himself in his No. 2 Duke basketball jersey with the caption “November 25th…” (though that’s the start date the NCAA approved a few weeks ago, there had been no word as to whether the 41st Blue Devil squad under Mike Krzyzewski would begin its quest for the program’s sixth national title so soon).

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Thirty minutes later, the program’s official Twitter account retweeted Steward’s message with a nodding Blue Devil, implying the official debut date for the 2020-21 Blue Devils is indeed correct.

Then, a few hours later, freshman power forward Henry Coleman chimed in with pics of himself in his No. 34 jersey and the following question for his new fanbase: “11/25…Y’all ready?!!”

Yes, we are.

What dates do we know for the 2020-21 Duke basketball schedule?

Thus far, the only reported dates for known Duke basketball games this season are Dec. 1 for the Champions Classic matchup against Michigan State, which is likely to take place in the Disney bubble down in Orlando, and Dec. 4-5 for the event that Coach K is planning in Durham, which will reportedly include games against Elon and Bellarmine.

We also know the ACC-Big Ten Challenge is targeting Dec. 8-9 for the matchups to be played on campuses, per CBS Sports insider Jon Rothstein, but we don’t know Duke’s opponent. Yet since the Blue Devils figure to begin the season among the top 15 in the AP Poll, one would imagine they’ll end up facing a top 25 foe, so Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan seem like the top candidates.

Other than all that, all we know is the NCAA is allowing teams to play 25 games plus two extra games in a multi-team event. And since the ACC slate is likely to include 20 of those outings, Duke would need to find a few more opponents to fill out its non-conference schedule (early on this calendar year, the program made plans to host Appalachian State and Cleveland State).

Plus, as of right now, the NCAA Tournament is on the calendar to begin March 16 with the title game coming on April 5 in Indianapolis (the host city for three Duke basketball national championships).

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