Jon Scheyer has built a Duke roster capable of cutting down the nets and winning the program's first national championship since 2015. That's always the goal for the Blue Devils, and it will undoubtedly be the biggest goal Scheyer and company will chase in 2026-27.
But they also have ancillary goals, one of which is winning the regular season ACC Championship for a third season in a row. Doing so won't be easy, however, with the ACC laying down a gauntlet for the Blue Devils on Thursday when matchups for next season's conference slate were released.
Duke will play an 18-game league schedule again in 2026-27, and the ACC's scheduling format is for each team to have one permanent opponent it plays twice annually, one variable opponent it will play twice that changes year-over-year, and then a singular contest against 14 of the remaining 15 ACC schools to round out the schedule.
Duke's permanent opponent is, obviously, North Carolina. It will play the normal home-and-home with the hated Tar Heels. Duke's variable opponent last year was Louisville. It swept the Cardinals in Durham and then in Louisville. While it won't have to face Louisville twice, it won't get much of a reprieve: Duke's variable opponent in 2026-27 is last year's ACC runner-up Virginia, whom the Blue Devils beat out in the regular season and then defeated again in the ACC Tournament Championship Game.
The full schedule with dates and times will be released in September, according to the release.
Duke basketball's ACC schedule is littered with potential landmines
The one ACC opponent that Duke will skip next season is Virginia Tech, at least in the regular season.
And while Duke won't have to face Louisville twice in the regular season, Scheyer will have to take his Blue Devils to the Yum! Center. That is already shaping up to be a critical game in the ACC title race, with Pat Kelsey doing some exceptional work in the Transfer Portal to land high-end targets in Flory Bidunga, Jackson Shelstad, Karter Knox, and Alvaro Folgueiras.
Louisville looks equipped to be a serious challenger to Duke in the ACC race, and gets the added advantage of facing the Blue Devils at home instead of having to travel to Cameron Indoor.
Duke does get another potential ACC contender - Miami - at home this season. Led by former Duke assistant Jai Lucas, the Hurricanes look poised to make some serious noise in the ACC race as well.
The league has certainly improved, even if that improvement hasn't come from Chapel Hill. Louisville, Virginia, and Miami look like serious challengers to the Duke throne.
Scheyer has scheduled an out-of-conference gauntlet this year that should have the Blue Devils more than ready for when ACC play begins.
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