Duke opens up the 2024-25 season on Nov. 4 at home in Durham, North Carolina, against Maine and plays another game at Cameron Indoor Stadium vs. Army on Nov. 8 before the challenging part of its nonconference slate begins with a bang. The Blue Devils will face Kentucky in one of two marquee matchups in a doubleheader (Kansas vs. Michigan State is the other) at the State Farm Champions Classic in an early-season showdown.
Duke also has games vs. Arizona, Kansas, and Auburn before ACC play begins. The Blue Devils also face Illinois on Feb. 22 at Madison Square Garden, less than a month before the NCAA Tournament tips off.
The Blue Devils are ranked No. 9 in Gary Parrish’s latest Top 25 and 1 and enter the season with national title aspirations due to the arrival of five-star forward Cooper Flagg — the top-ranked player from the 2024 recruiting cycle, according to 247Sports. Duke returns Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster from last season’s squad that reached the Elite Eight and added Mason Gillis (Purdue), Maliq Brown (Syracuse) and Sion James (Tulane) to the top-ranked high school recruiting class that features Flagg, Khaman Maluach, Isaiah Evans, Kon Knueppel, Patrick Ngongba ll and Darren Harris.
The ACC schedule will be announced laster, but here are the Blue Devils’ top five nonconference games to look forward to this season.
1. Kansas (Vegas Showdown)
When: Nov. 26, 2024 | Where: T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas)
Kansas enters the season as the likely preseason No. 1 ranked team and checked in as Gary Parrish’s top-ranked team in the latest Top 25 and 1. Expectations for Bill Self and company will be as high as ever after a…
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