Duke basketball heading to New York City, again, this season

The Duke basketball team is heading back to New York City for another marquee game. 

The annual voyage to Madison Square Garden has been booked for the Duke basketball team and the lights will be bright once again.

CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein reports that the Blue Devils will face Baylor in a neutral site non-conference matchup inside The World’s Most Famous Arena on December 20 next season.

The two programs have only met once, the South Regional Final in 2010, in which the Jon Scheyer led Blue Devils punched its ticket to the Final Four and go on to win its fourth National Championship.

Duke played Iowa last season at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Classic, winning 74-62.

The Blue Devils’ non-conference schedule is already filling up after the program announced a multi-team event in mid-November that it will host inside Cameron Indoor Stadium that features La Salle, Bucknell, and Souther Indiana.

Duke will also play host to Queens on December 29 in Durham.

However, the power conference teams that Jon Scheyer is putting on the schedule is daunting.

ALSO READ: Jon Scheyer adds major depth piece to bench

In addition to playing Baylor, the Blue Devils will play Michigan State in the Champions Classic on November 14 while also hosting Arizona on November 10 in the first game of a home-and-home series.

Duke will also participate in the first ever ACC vs. SEC Challenge, replacing the ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge, and its rumored that Kentucky will be the opponent waiting for the 5-time National Champions when the matchups become unveiled.

Duke basketball roster looking solid and deep

Duke enters the No. 2 recruiting class in the country, according to 247Sports, behind 5-star signees Sean Stewart, Caleb Foster, Jared McCain, and TJ Power.

The Blue Devils lost 5-star wing Mackenzie Mgbako, who requested out of his National Letter of Intent in mid-April, but return star freshmen Kyle Filipowski, Tyrese Proctor, and Mark Mitchell.

ALSO READ: Mackenzie Mgbako announces Top-2, sets decision date

Dariq Whitehead and Dereck Lively II have entered the 2023 NBA Draft, along with captain Jeremy Roach but he is still maintaining his college eligibility as he goes through the process.