Duke basketball has a relatively daunting non-conference schedule. But outside of home-and-away battles against archrival UNC, the Blue Devils’ ACC slate is full of games versus opponents who will begin the season absent from the Associated Press Top 25 Poll.
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That’s because the AP Top 25, released on Monday afternoon, includes only two of the now-18 ACC squads. Jon Scheyer’s third Duke basketball squad, featuring projected No. 1 overall draft pick Cooper Flagg, will begin its highly anticipated campaign on Nov. 4 with a No. 7 by its name. And UNC checks in at No. 9.
Wake Forest, Miami, Clemson, and Louisville were the only other ACC teams to receive any votes.
The College Basketball Preseason AP Poll has ARRIVED 🚨
1. Kansas
2. Alabama
3. UConn
4. Houston
5. Iowa State
6. Gonzaga
7. Duke
8. Baylor
9. UNC
10. Arizona
11. Auburn
12. Tennessee
13. Texas A&M
14. Purdue
15. Creighton
16. Arkansas
17. Indiana
18. Marquette
19. Texas
20.…— College Basketball Report (@CBKReport) October 14, 2024
As for Duke’s outings against preseason top 25 foes, the first comes as part of the State Farm Champions Classic in Atlanta when the Blue Devils face No. 23 Kentucky at 9 p.m. ET on Nov. 12 (ESPN). They encounter a road bout against No. 10 Arizona, tipping off in the McKale Memorial Center at 10:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2), before heading to the T-Mobile Arena for a Vegas Showdown contest against No. 1 Kansas at 9 p.m. ET on Nov. 26 (ESPN).
And at 9:15 p.m. ET on Dec. 4 (ESPN), Duke basketball welcomes No. 11 Auburn to Cameron Indoor Stadium for their ACC/SEC Challenge meeting.
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