Duke basketball: Wise move by Coach K to schedule yet another cupcake

There’s no reason for the 2020-21 Duke basketball team to pass up cupcakes.

It would be nice to see the Duke basketball schedule again include a regular series or two against the likes of a St. John’s, Michigan, or UCLA. That said, these aren’t the good old days.

Times have changed.

Nowadays, a brutal non-conference slate would basically be a death wish, especially for the young 2020-21 Blue Devils. Eight of the best 11 are freshmen or sophomores.

Look, the players are already challenging themselves against top-level talent via intrasquad scrimmages and practice. Nine of the best 11 are either former five-star preps or four-stars.

Yes, it makes sense that Mike Krzyzewski and his staff have reportedly scheduled lowly Charleston Southern, a program that hasn’t seen 20 wins in a season since 1986-87. According to David Shelton of The Post and Courier, the Buccaneers will be in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Dec. 12.

It makes sense that Duke has already invited Gardner-Webb, which is 0-1 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, to Durham for its Nov. 25 season opener.

And it makes sense that the Blue Devils’ two foes for Krzyzewski’s planned multi-team home event, Dec. 4-5, are Elon, which is coming off a 13-21 campaign, and Bellarmine, which is making its D-I debut this year.

In addition to those announcements, earlier in the calendar year, Duke had arranged 2020-21 home meetings with Appalachian State and Cleveland State, neither of which earned a Big Dance ticket the entire last decade. There’s no word yet on whether either will still be on the final schedule, however.

So why do the weak Duke basketball scheduling moves make sense?

First, recognize the ACC is, by almost every metric, the nation’s big kahuna. There is no such thing as an automatic W.

Plus, keep in mind that the league slate now consists of 20 games per team, up from only 14 in the 80s into the early 90s, when Duke teams played only one or two fewer total contests each regular season than they do now in normal years. The in-conference count was 16 from 1991-92 to 2011-12 and then 18 until it bumped up to 20 last season.

Now, also consider that the NCAA is only permitting 27 games per squad this season (if playing two games in a multi-team event) while the ACC is sticking with 20 for each member.

Furthermore, remember that Duke will take on blueblood Michigan State on Dec. 1 in the Champions Classic. Finally, factor in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, which is tentatively set for Dec. 8-9 and will likely pit the Blue Devils against a top-25 squad.

This left only five games for Coach K and his gang to organize themselves. What that means is, regardless of whether all five of these matchups are against drastically inferior opponents, the Duke basketball schedule will actually have a lower percentage of cupcakes than in most past seasons.

ALSO READ: Ranking all 40 Duke teams under Coach K

Even if Duke was to line up five middle-school teams for the portion of the non-conference schedule it has control over this go-round, the Blue Devils would still have one of the toughest slates in the country thanks to the Champions Classic, the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, and the sheer top-to-bottom strength of the ACC.

Besides, entering ACC play with five or so losses would perhaps be too much for the current youngins to overcome; after all, nobody wants to end up like the 2019-20 Tar Heels.

Without feasting on a sufficient number of cupcakes in late November and December, the Blue Devils would be in danger of losing almost all their sweetness before 2020 even comes to an end.

No thanks.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more Duke basketball schedule updates plus other news and views regarding all things Blue Devils.