A brief history of Duke basketball’s recent dominance over Michigan State

Duke basketball enjoys a lopsided advantage of late against Michigan State.

The current Duke basketball team, which is 1-0 and now ranks No. 6 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll, is set to host No. 8 Michigan State in Cameron Indoor Stadium as a part of the Champions Classic. The Tuesday night showdown, tipping at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN, will be the first huge test for the Blue Devils in their extremely young season.

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Both Duke and Michigan State are blueblood programs that are in championship contention every single year. And it seems like the Blue Devils and Spartans play every year.

Between the Champions Classic, Big Ten-ACC Challenge, and the NCAA Tournament, the likelihood of Duke and Michigan State meeting up is always high. What is amazing is that since 2010, the Blue Devils and Spartans have played each other every year with the exception of the 2013-14 and 2015-16 seasons.

Although Michigan State is one of the premier programs in college basketball, Tom Izzo’s squads have seen relatively little success against Duke. The two basketball powerhouses have squared off nine times over the last 10 seasons. The Blue Devils boast an 8-1 record over the Spartans across that time span.

Now, here is a brief breakdown of each of those nine games, beginning with a look back at a pair of regular-season matchups toward the beginning of the 2010s and a Sweet 16 matchup in 2013…