The Duke basketball non-conference slate poses challenges, but all at home.
Duke basketball finally released its full 2020-21 schedule on Tuesday. While we still do not have the tipoff time for any games, and some games do not even have set dates, we do have a full look at who the Blue Devils will be playing, in what order, and where.
What initially jumps out when looking at the schedule is that the Blue Devils will not leave Durham until Dec. 16. Every single one of Duke’s non-conference games will be played at home in Cameron Indoor Stadium. While Mike Krzyzewski does not usually have his squads play many non-conference road games, they do typically play some neutral site games.
Duke seems to always play a couple of games in New York, whether that be in Madison Square Garden, Brooklyn, or across the river in East Rutherford. But 2020 is far from a typical year, and the Blue Devils will have to skip out on some non-conference traditions this year.
However, there are still some traditions that will stay in place for the 2020-21 season, those being the Champions Classic and the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
The Champions Classic will look a little different this year. For starters, the college hoops season will not open with the Champions Classic like it has the past two seasons. Duke will play against both Gardner-Webb (Nov. 25) and Coppin State (Nov. 28) before taking on Michigan State in the Champions Classic on Dec. 1.
For the first time ever, the Champions Classic will not be held in a neutral location. Duke will be hosting Michigan State in Cameron Indoor Stadium, marking the first time that both games (Kansas vs. Kentucky being the other) will not be played in the same venue. It is also the first time the Champions Classic will be played in December instead of its customary November date.
As I previously mentioned, the Duke basketball season opens with what should be two cupcake wins, starting with the Blue Devils hosting Gardner-Webb. The Runnin’ Bulldogs are out of the Big South conference and finished 16-16 last season. They finished third in the conference at 11-7 and led the league in 3-point shooting percentage. However, they did lose their top three scorers.
Before the Michigan State showdown, Duke hosts Coppin State. The Eagles are coached by former Maryland point guard Juan Dixon, who had many great battles with Duke basketball in the early 2000s. Coppin State totaled just 11 wins last season and finished two games under .500 in the MEAC. Those Eagles loved to shoot threes, averaging 28.4 attempts, ninth-most in the country.
Other than Michigan State, Duke has only one other game where it will be tested in the non-conference. That will be in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge against Illinois on Dec. 8. This could be the best Fighting Illini team in quite some time. They rank one spot ahead of Duke at No. 9 in the preseason AP Top 25 and return two premier Big Ten players in Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn.
The Blue Devils will also host Bellarmine and Elon for the program’s multi-team event (MTE) in Durham. It seems like the Duke basketball program plays Elon every year, and the games are never exactly barn burners.
For Bellarmine, it will be the Knights’ first season as a Division 1 program. They were one of the better Division 2 programs, but it is never easy making that adjustment.
The games against Bellarmine and Elon will be played on Dec. 4 and Dec. 6, respectively. The Blue Devils will also face off against Charleston Southern on Dec. 12, which will be their final non-conference game of the season.
Overall, the Duke basketball non-conference schedule is fairly weak
It should be taken into consideration that this is not a normal year, and putting together a schedule has been absolute madness for all teams. Plus, Duke will have two big-time matchups with Michigan State and Illinois, two teams with Final Four expectations.
ALSO READ: Four key takeaways from Duke’s first intrasquad scrimmage
I think it is always helpful to play at least one road game before the conference schedule begins. But again, this is not a normal year. Without fans, playing on the road will look very different this season. Almost every game will feel like a neutral site game, even though they obviously are not.
The Blue Devils will certainly have the advantage of not having to travel. This should help with recovery and the quick turnarounds as the 2020-21 Duke basketball team will be playing its entire seven-game non-conference slate in just 18 days.
Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more Duke basketball news and views.