With the college basketball season being months away, the news we are getting now revolves around recruiting and the upcoming schedule. For the Duke Blue Devils, they put together another tough non-conference schedule for the upcoming 2026-27 season.
Jon Scheyer and his staff have played really tough non-conference schedules the past few years, challenging their roster. That included last year, when they faced off against eventual national champion Michigan in Washington D.C.
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That was a game the Blue Devils won despite Cameron Boozer getting into foul trouble late in the game. The two were supposed to run it back this season at Madison Square Garden, but that location was no longer viable. There was a thought they could play at Marlins Stadium as a solution, but now it looks like the game won’t happen at all.
While the game was scheduled for this season, a dispute over broadcast rights forced the two sides to move the game, per a report from ESPN. Due to Duke’s agreement with Amazon, including a game also against UConn, the Big Ten and Michigan weren’t able to get an agreement together, causing some interruptions in the scheduling of this game.
Now, the game is cancelled as a whole and Duke will now play Texas Tech at Madison Square Garden instead.
The Blue Devils and Red Raiders will face off on December 21st, almost a year to the day from their battle last season. The Red Raiders won that game 82-81 to give Duke their first loss of the year.
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For Duke, they will still get to face off against a good team in Texas Tech but it wont be the same caliber as facing off against the defending national champion. It’s a bit of a hit to the non-conference schedule but at least Duke has a game to replace it.
Duke will enter this season as a top-five team and potentially a top-two team in the preseason polls. Texas Tech won’t be on that level, but they will still be a good team again under Grant McCasland. The head coach has taken Texas Tech to three straight NCAA Tournaments.
