Duke basketball schedule is out. Here’s the complete slate, plus a look at top games

Jon Scheyer tore down and rebuilt Duke’s basketball roster with the sole intent on preparing the Blue Devils for a national championship run this season.

Now, the Blue Devils know the exact path they’ll navigate through the regular season.

The ACC released full schedules for all 18 men’s basketball teams Tuesday night, revealing Duke’s slate that includes 10 games against teams that made last season’s NCAA Tournament.

Five of those will come in the nonconference season, with marquee neutral-site games against Kentucky, Kansas and Illinois, a home game with Auburn and a road game at Arizona.

The Blue Devils, who return only guards Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster from last season’s 27-9 squad that reached the NCAA Tournament’s final eight, will count on freshman Cooper Flagg to lead this season’s team. The 6-9 Flagg, already considered a lock to be the No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA Draft, leads a six-man class that was the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class.

Entering his third season as Duke’s head coach, Scheyer brought in three key transfers in 6-9 Maliq Brown, 6-6 Sion James and 6-6 Mason Gillis.

The Blue Devils have three preseason events planned at Cameron Indoor Stadium: Countdown to Craziness blue-white scrimmage on Oct. 4 plus exhibition games with Lincoln (Pa.) on Oct. 19 and Arizona State on Oct. 27.

Here’s a look at Duke’s entire schedule:

Duke’s can’t-miss basketball game

A treat arrives early on the schedule when Duke travels west to play Kansas, No. 1 in ESPN’s way-too-early top 25 rankings, in Las Vegas on Nov. 26. ESPN has Duke rated No. 8.

Duke and Kansas already play one another at least once every three seasons as they are both part of the annual Champions Classic doubleheader. This is a season where Duke plays Kentucky and Kansas faces off with Michigan State in that event on Nov. 12, so the Blue Devils and Jayhawks did us all a favor and scheduled their own game two weeks later.

This game coming on the same trip where Duke plays at Arizona four nights earlier only adds to the intrigue.

Trap game alert

Duke plays at Southern Methodist on Jan. 4 in a game the Blue Devils can’t afford to overlook. It falls in the midst of a five-game stretch where four of those games are at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It’s a new conference opponent and Duke’s initial visit there will be a big deal for the Mustangs.

Toughest stretch for Duke

An eight-day stretch in late February will challenge the Blue Devils at a time when they hope to be playing their best basketball.

Between Feb. 17 and Feb. 25, Duke will play Virginia, Illinois and Miami, all away from Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The trip to Charlottesville to face UVa on an ESPN Big Monday game is difficult because of the way the Cavaliers play and that Duke will have short preparation time after playing a home game with Stanford on Feb. 15.

The Blue Devils head to New York City to play Illinois on Feb. 22 in a non-conference game then jet to Miami to face the Hurricanes on Feb. 25.

Easiest stretch for Duke

Admitting that easy is a relative term, there is a January stretch against five teams that didn’t make last season’s NCAA Tournament where it appears the Blue Devils can rack up wins. It begins Jan . 7 at home with Pittsburgh, which may be the toughest game of the five since the Panthers won at Cameron Indoor last season.

On Jan. 11 Duke plays at home against Notre Dame before Miami comes to Durham on Jan. 14. That’s followed by road games at Boston College and Wake Forest. Yes, Duke lost at Wake Forest last season, sparking the court-storming that sparked a national conversation about whether or not such things should be allowed.

But if this Duke team is as good as advertised, the five-game stretch starting with Pitt and ending at Wake Forest should bring at least four wins if not five.

When does Duke play UNC?

The annual home-and-home rivalry series begins in Durham this season, when the Blue Devils and Tar Heels face off Feb. 1 at 6:30 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke and UNC close the regular season at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill on March 8 at 6:30 p.m.

Duke basketball’s non-conference test

So many high-quality opponents, including the Kansas game listed above. But an important test comes in Duke’s final regular-season game against a non-ACC foe. The Blue Devils travel to New York to play Illinois on Feb. 22 at Madison Square Garden. The matchup between two of teams that made the final eight in last spring’s NCAA Tournament comes late in the regular season and offers each team a chance to boost their NET rating shortly before the tournament committee makes its seeding selections. That adds extra juice to a strong matchup.

Duke basketball schedule

+ — Champions Classic, State Farm Arena, Atlanta

^ — Vegas Showdown, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas

# — Madison Square Garden, New York

* — ACC games

! — Spectrum Center, Charlotte

This story was originally published September 24, 2024 at 12:00 AM.

Steve Wiseman

The News & Observer

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Steve Wiseman was named Raleigh News & Observer and Durham Herald-Sun sports editor in May 2025. He covered Duke athletics, beginning in 2010, prior to his current assignment. In the Associated Press Sports Editors national contest, he placed in the top 10 in beat writing in 2019, 2021 and 2022, breaking news in 2019, event coverage in 2025 and explanatory writing in 2018. Before coming to Durham in 2010, Steve worked for The State (Columbia, SC), Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, S.C.), The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.), Charlotte Observer and Hickory (NC) Daily Record covering beats including the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints, University of South Carolina athletics and the S.C. General Assembly. He’s won numerous state-level press association awards. Steve graduated from Illinois State University in 1989.