Duke basketball schedule is here. The complete slate, plus a look at top games
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Duke opens ACC play Dec. 30 or 31 vs. Georgia Tech; ends March 7 vs. UNC.
- Blue Devils play 18 ACC games, including two each vs. UNC and Louisville.
- Nonconference slate includes Texas, Kansas, Florida, Michigan State and more.
A year ago, Duke’s Blue Devils had the best ACC record in the regular season, winning 19 of 20 games.
This season, with mostly a new cast, the Devils will look to do it again and will likely be the favorites to finish on top of the league and again secure the top seed for the ACC Tournament.
The ACC announced the conference schedule for 2025-26 on Tuesday, now shortened to 18 games to enable ACC teams to add a few more marquee nonconference matchups.
Duke will open ACC play against Georgia Tech on either Dec. 30 or Dec. 31 at Cameron Indoor and end it March 7 with the traditional game against rival North Carolina in Cameron.
This season’s ACC Tournament is at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center for the second season in row. Duke will look to repeat its championship in the event set March 10-14, 2026.
Duke, 35-4 last season, opens the 2025-26 season with a Nov. 4 game against Texas in Charlotte’s Spectrum Center in the Dick Vitale Invitational.
The Blue Devils already announced nonconference games against Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, Florida, Michigan State, Michigan and Texas Tech. That’s quite a challenging slate.
The annual ACC/SEC Challenge will have Duke hosting Florida on Dec. 2 before going to Michigan State on Dec. 6.
The ACC announced earlier that Duke’s 18-game conference schedule would have home-and-home series with North Carolina and Louisville, with the remaining 14 conference games for the Blue Devils consisting of seven home-only opponents and seven away-only opponents.
Duke hosts Boston College, Clemson, Georgia Tech, SMU, Syracuse, Virginia and Wake Forest at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The ACC road games are at California, Florida State, N,C. State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Stanford and Virginia Tech.
Duke’s preseason begins with the Countdown to Craziness on Oct. 3 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils will have exhibition games against UCF (Oct. 21), coached by former Duke great Johnny Dawkins, and at Tennessee (Oct. 26).
Here’s a look at Duke’s full schedule
Duke’s can’t miss basketball game
An easy pick is Florida, at Cameron Indoor Staduim. It’s the ACC/SEC Challenge matchup for the Blue Devils and one that Duke would have liked to have had in April – in the Final Four. The Gators beat Houston in the NCAA championship game after the Cougars held off the Devils in the semifinals in San Antonio, Texas.
The Gators have hopes of a repeat this season and coach Todd Golden have such returnees as Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh and Rueben Chinyelu along with a few new faces.
Trap game alert
Don’t overlook the Lipscomb game on Dec. 16 at Cameron. It comes after the Devils face Florida and Michigan State and before going to New York’s Madison Square Garden to take on Texas Tech.
The Atlantic Sun team was 25-10 last season, won their conference title game and the Bisons played in the NCAA tournament. Lipscomb did lose forward Jacob Ognacevic, the ASUN player of the year last season who transferred to Washington.
Toughest ACC stretch for Duke
While it’s always hard to predict, the Blue Devils will play four of their first six ACC games on the road – at Florida State and Louisville, then at California and Stanford on a West Coast swing. That will make for a lot of air miles.
Easiest stretch for Duke
November will offer a run of nonconference games on either side of the Kansas matchup on Nov. 18, with games against Western Carolina, Indiana State, Niagara and Howard. All four of those games will be at Cameron, although the Devils will go to West Point to face Army on Nov. 11., which could be interesting.
When does Duke play UNC?
It’s always the first thing Duke and UNC fans look for, isn’t it? The answer: the games are a month apart, the first Feb. 7 in Chapel Hill and then a March 7 game at Cameron.
Duke basketball’s nonconference test
The Blue Devils will go to Michigan State on Dec. 6 to face Tom Izzo’s Spartans. The game figures to be another physical battle between the two schools, who have a storied basketball history.
Duke 2025-26 schedule
| Date | Team |
| Oct. 21 (exhibition) | UCF |
| Oct. 26 (exhibition) | at Tennessee |
| Nov. 4 | Texas (at Charlotte) |
| Nov. 8 | Western Carolina |
| Nov. 11 | at Army West Point |
| Nov. 14 | Indiana State |
| Nov. 18 | Kansas (at New York) |
| Nov. 21 | Niagara |
| Nov. 23 | Howard |
| Nov. 27 | Arkansas (at Chicago) |
| Dec. 2 | Florida |
| Dec. 6 | at Michigan State |
| Dec. 16 | Lipscomb |
| Dec. 20 | Texas Tech (at New York) |
| Dec. 30 or 31 | Georgia Tech* |
| Jan. 3 | at Florida State* |
| Jan. 6 or 7 | at Louisville* |
| Jan. 10 | SMU* |
| Jan. 13 or 14 | at California* |
| Jan. 17 | at Stanford* |
| Jan. 24 | Wake Forest* |
| Jan. 26 | Louisville* |
| Jan. 31 | at Virginia Tech* |
| Feb. 3 or 4 | Boston College* |
| Feb. 7 | at North Carolina* |
| Feb. 10 or 11 | at Pittsburgh* |
| Feb. 14 | Clemson* |
| Feb. 16 | Syracuse* |
| Feb. 21 | Michigan (at Washington, DC) |
| Feb. 24 or 25 | at Notre Dame* |
| Feb. 28 | Virginia* |
| March 2 | at NC State* |
| March 7 | North Carolina* |
| March 10-14 | ACC Tournament (at Charlotte) |
(*) ACC games
This story was originally published September 9, 2025 at 4:13 PM.
