The Duke basketball team will play one of the most competitive schedules in the country next season after Jon Scheyer loaded his team’s non-conference slate, but the Blue Devils could have had an even tougher road next season if not for a scheduling blunder by the ACC.
In an effort to try and get more teams in the NCAA Tournament by having programs schedule a tougher non-conference games, the league cut its conference schedule by two games – moving from a 20-game schedule to 18-games.
Duke has taken full advantage of the opportunity, landing non-ACC games against Texas, Kansas, Michigan State, Arkansas, Florida, Texas Tech, and Michigan in addition to what many believed will be an improved conference schedule.
It was announced weeks ago who Duke would be playing in its league slate, although the specific dates of the matchups have yet to be finalized.
However, one major opponent was missing from the Blue Devil schedule – the Miami Hurricanes.
Due to the new scheduling structure, every team in the ACC will not be playing one of its conference foes during the regular season. Duke will be playing SMU, Stanford, and California – all of which are entering its second season in the league.
It begs the question as to why the ACC slated the Mustangs on the schedule of the Blue Devils and not the Hurricanes, who just hired former Duke associate head coach Jai Lucas to be its next head coach as he took 5-star Duke signee Shelton Henderson with him to Coral Gables.
The absence of Miami on Duke’s schedule is a major scheduling mistake by the ACC in terms of trying to generate ratings and buzz around a league matchup that was once a highly entertaining rivalry.
Now, Duke against SMU will still have the feel on a non-conference game while the Blue Devils will have to wait until at least the ACC Tournament for a potential matchup with Jai Lucas and Miami.