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DURHAM -- Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has crafted a non-conference schedule featuring a stretch around Thanksgiving that appears as tough as a late-March run.
While the complete schedule isn't finalized, the reigning NCAA champion Blue Devils are set to play five games in three time zones over a 12-day period from Nov. 22 to Dec. 4. Three of those games will be against teams likely to be ranked in the preseason top 25.
Duke opens defense of its national championship in the College Basketball Explorers Classic, playing home games at Cameron Indoor Stadium with Princeton on Nov. 14 and Miami (Ohio) on Nov. 16.
Following a Nov. 19 home game with Colgate that is not part of the CBE Classic, the Blue Devils travel to Kansas City for the CBE semifinals and finals. Duke plays Marquette at the Sprint Center at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 22. The next night, the Blue Devils will face either Kansas State or Gonzaga -- both expected to be top 25 teams.
The Blue Devils then head west to Portland, Ore., to play Oregon at the Rose Garden, home of the Portland Trail Blazers. That game, designed as a homecoming for Oregon native and Duke senior Kyle Singler, will be at 4 p.m. Nov. 27, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
The ACC/Big Ten Challenge is next, which means a Dec. 1 home game with Michigan State. While everything points toward Duke being ranked No. 1 entering the season, Michigan State will almost certainly be in the top five as well.
On Dec. 4, Duke and Butler meet in a rematch of last spring's national championship game. The game, to be played at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., is part of a doubleheader at the facility. Army and Pennsylvania will play at noon with Duke-Butler to follow.
Over the next three weeks, working around final exams, Duke plays home games against Bradley (Dec. 8), St. Louis (Dec. 11) and Elon (Dec. 20).
Following Christmas, Duke travels to the Greensboro Coliseum, site of next year's ACC Tournament, to face UNC Greensboro on Dec. 29. After the new year, Duke mixes in three nonconference games among its ACC schedule. The Blue Devils welcome Alabama-Birmingham to Cameron Indoor on Jan. 5, travel to face St. John's at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 30 and play host to Temple on Feb. 23.
The ACC portion of the schedule is expected to be finalized by the league office around Sept. 1. Duke's only known ACC game is the March 5 regular-season finale at 8 p.m. at UNC, which will be televised by CBS.
