Duke basketball looking for a strange version of home cooking in 2020
The Duke basketball program will have some strange home cooking this season as the scheduling circus continues to evolve.
Things have fallen fast regarding the Orlando bubble in the college basketball world, and it all collapsed Monday afternoon.
Just over 24 hours after reports surfaced that the event was on life support, ESPN has now pulled the plug on all the events taking place in Florida, leaving many programs scrambling for non-conference games as the season begins in one month.
One of those programs that are scrambling, to an extent, are the Duke Blue Devils.
Duke was slated to face the Michigan State Spartans on December 1 in the Champions Classic inside the Orlando bubble.
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Seth Davis of The Athletic was the first to report the canning of the bubble, but schedule makers are already trying to make things work for the scheduled games.
The Champions Classic is one of those events that is looking for another location to play, and Andy Katz of the NCAA is reporting that Indianapolis has emerged as a leading candidate to host the Champions Classic and Jimmy V Classic.
One possible destination for Champions or Jimmy V could be Indianapolis. The goal, as @SethDavisHoops says below, is to salvage those two events. Don't be surprised to see some of these teams who were in the other events in Orlando try and pair up and find a new location. https://t.co/rahlQA1elE
— Andy Katz (@TheAndyKatz) October 26, 2020
Am told any sort of forecasts on where Champions Classic does or doesn’t get played at this point is premature. It’s Duke vs. Michigan State and Kansas vs. Kentucky and those teams still want those games.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) October 26, 2020
However, Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reported a contrasting idea that the Champions Classic is very still much up in the air and a report of what site could hold the event is very premature, although the four teams, Duke-Michigan State and Kentucky-Kansas, want the games to be played.
The Duke basketball program in Indianapolis is very dangerous.
Under the assumption that Duke will travel to Indianapolis to play the Champions Classic, Michigan State should be very wary of the Blue Devils.
The last time Mike Krzyzewski’s team visited the Hoosier State, Duke faced Kentucky in the Champions Classic.
Duke won 118-84.
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Indianapolis was also the host city for three of the five National Championships for the Blue Devils (1991, 2010, and 2015).
If everything else goes according to plan, which is a lot to ask at this point, Duke is only awaiting where, and if, the Champions Classic will be played, as well as its opponent in the ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge to round out its seven non-conference games this season.
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