MBB non-conference schedule released

[jimsumner]

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=210160195&DB_OEM_ID=4200

[SCMatt33]

I'm kind of surprised there wasn't an extra road/neutral game on the schedule. By my count, there are 9 nononconference games in Cameron. That would make 18 home games total. That's a record if I'm not mistaken

[JasonEvans]

Non-conf slate is fairly typical for us with a good number of Top 25 teams, though (aside from Kentucky) it lacks big-time matchups.

Our pre-season tourney features a good field, though not a great one. I doubt Wisconsin, GTown, or VCU are ranked in the Top 15.

Clearly the best team on the sked is Kentucky, who will be top 5 in the preseason. They will, as always, be reliant upon freshmen but they also have some pretty solid returnees. That will be a big marquee matchup that the TV folks will talk about a lot!

Indiana is probably going to be just outside the top 10, but they are a strong non-conf opponent. The best B!G matchup would have been Maryland, but I am sure UNC will draw them.

Though I doubt Utah is in the preseason top 25, they will probably find their way into the polls at some point. If nothing else, our very experienced front line will have a real test in 7-foot soph Jacob Pertltlrtl.

I have no idea how teams like Yale, Utah St, Ga Southern, and Buffalo will be next year but they all had winning records in 2015 (3 of them won 20+ games) and should be teams that don't hurt our RPI too badly. Yale is challenging Harvard to be the class of the Ivy. Elon and LBSt are the only teams that did not have a winning record in 2015.

-Jason "I'd love to see us get back on the West Coast -- any way we can renew the annual series with UCLA?" Evans

[Wander]

Though I doubt Utah is in the preseason top 25, they will probably find their way into the polls at some point. If nothing else, our very experienced front line will have a real test in 7-foot soph Jacob Pertltlrtl.

They've been in most of the early preseason rankings so far. I bet they're ranked around 20 or so in the first poll.

[gocanes0506]

Since I am in atl I will try to go to the GT game!

[flyingdutchdevil]

Looks like I'm going to New York twice, a BC game in Boston once, and a random, affordable Durham ACC game once. God I love Duke basketball.

[DukieTiger]

At first glance, I'd call this year's non-conference schedule less top-heavy than past years, but definitely more balanced than last year. Last year it seemed Duke played an unusual amount of teams toward the bottom of the D1 barrel- PC and Furman were ranked >300 while Elon, Army and Fairfield were all >250 in the KenPom rankings. By comparison, from 2012-2014 Duke played no teams >300 and only 3 teams ranked >250 across those years. Seems like the bottom half of Duke's schedule this year will be generally tougher than last year- at least at first glance.

Don't know that it will make much of a difference in terms of wins and losses, just stood out to me as I remembered last year having some particularly weak teams in there.

[COYS]

At first glance, I'd call this year's non-conference schedule less top-heavy than past years, but definitely more balanced than last year. Last year it seemed Duke played an unusual amount of teams toward the bottom of the D1 barrel- PC and Furman were ranked >300 while Elon, Army and Fairfield were all >250 in the KenPom rankings. By comparison, from 2012-2014 Duke played no teams >300 and only 3 teams ranked >250 across those years. Seems like the bottom half of Duke's schedule this year will be generally tougher than last year- at least at first glance.

Don't know that it will make much of a difference in terms of wins and losses, just stood out to me as I remembered last year having some particularly weak teams in there.

I noticed this, too. The staff usually likes to play low-seed tournament caliber teams even for some of the easier games on the schedule to pad the RPI. Interestingly enough, it was the wins against the elite teams that helped the guys earn a number 1 seed in 2015 despite failing to win the ACCT. To some extent, the staff can't control how good every opponent is going to be every year. I suspect that's part of why the bottom of the schedule was so soft this past season. On the other hand, I'd say both strategies can work. Last year got a number one seed by beating all the top teams it faced despite losses to mediocre competition. The 2010 team lost its high-profile match ups to Wisconsin and Georgetown and yet earned a number 1 by dominating the deep but not top-heavy ACC and then winning the ACCT.

[Duvall]

At first glance, I'd call this year's non-conference schedule less top-heavy than past years, but definitely more balanced than last year. Last year it seemed Duke played an unusual amount of teams toward the bottom of the D1 barrel- PC and Furman were ranked >300 while Elon, Army and Fairfield were all >250 in the KenPom rankings. By comparison, from 2012-2014 Duke played no teams >300 and only 3 teams ranked >250 across those years. Seems like the bottom half of Duke's schedule this year will be generally tougher than last year- at least at first glance.

Don't know that it will make much of a difference in terms of wins and losses, just stood out to me as I remembered last year having some particularly weak teams in there.

Well, the 2K Classic has dumped Siena and Bryant onto our schedule, so that hurts a bit. (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=210163509&DB_OEM_ID=4200)