Men's Basketball Schedule 2022-23

[-jk]

Did you see where they actually trademarked "THE"?

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/23/us/oh...the/index.html

Prior use: "Duke, the university of north carolina" bumper stickers back in the days.

Not sure if it ever got on a t-shirt.

-jk

[arnie]

And N.C. State is left out of the challenge; I assume since they finished dead last in the previous season.

If Keatts team is struggling in November, the pressure on the State AD will be interesting during the Challenge week.

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

Updated look at the schedule based on what I understand:

November 8: Duke vs. Jacksonville
November 15: Duke vs. Kansas (Indianapolis, IN as part of Champions Classic)
November 21: Duke vs. Bellarmine
November 24-27: PK85 Legacy Bracket, including Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Oregon State, Portland State, Purdue, West Virginia, and Xavier (Portland, OR)
December 6: Duke vs. Iowa (MSG, Jimmy V Classic)
December XX: Duke vs TBD (ACC/B1G Challenge at Cameron Indoor Stadium)

This article from April says that Duke-Jacksonville game is November 7: https://www.jacksonville.com/story/s...er/7391435001/

[BigWayne]

Prior use: "Duke, the university of north carolina" bumper stickers back in the days.

Not sure if it ever got on a t-shirt.

-jk

Best bumper sticker back in the 80s was the “if god is not a Tar Heel, why is the sky Carolina blue?”

Of course it was only great after you cut off the “if” and the comma and everything after that.

[DavidBenAkiva]

This article from April says that Duke-Jacksonville game is November 7: https://www.jacksonville.com/story/s...er/7391435001/

Good find.

I suppose I assumed it would be that Tuesday since the season has started on a Tuesday for a good long while now. They must be moving games off of that day to not conflict with elections.

[tommy]

Best bumper sticker back in the 80s was the “if god is not a Tar Heel, why is the sky Carolina blue?”

Of course it was only great after you cut off the “if” and the comma and everything after that.

I always thought the best one was “if God is a Tar Heel, why is the toilet water Carolina Blue?”

[HCheek37]

November 7: Duke vs Jacksonville, Durham
November 11: Duke vs USC Upstate, Durham
November 15: Duke vs Kansas, Indianapolis
November 21: Duke vs Bellarmine, Durham
November 24-27: Duke plays 3 times at the PK85 Tournament, Portland
November 30: Duke vs Ohio State, Durham
December 6: Duke vs Iowa, New York City
March 4: Duke at North Carolina, Chapel Hill
March 7-11: ACC Tournament, Greensboro
March 12: Selection Sunday, CBS
March 16 - April 3: NCAA Tournament, Various Sites (Greensboro is the closest first weekend site, then NYC/Louisville for the Regionals and Houston for the final four)

Game Dates Unknown
ACC Opponents road: Clemson, Virginia, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Boston College, Miami, NC State and Virginia Tech
ACC Opponents home: Wake Forest, Boston College, Miami, NC State, Virginia Tech, Florida St, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and UNC-CH (probably February 4th)
Countdown to Craziness, 1 or 2 exhibitions and 1-2 other non-conference games in the December 6-January 3 time period likely.

[HCheek37]

Made it a separate post but the Greensboro hosting the ACC tournament and a first round site is a nice setup for the top ACC teams if they get placed there. Might be like the old days with Duke and UNC traveling down the road and filling the Coliseum.

[UrinalCake]

This is the first time in several years that we haven't opened the season with the Champions Classic. Even though we have fared extremely well in that event, I actually like the idea of having a couple tune-up games before taking on a big time opponent who in this case also happens to be the defending champs. Maybe we lose the surprise factor of tossing our elite freshmen into the ring without our opponent having a chance to scout them, but I still like it better. And having it be the opening night of college basketball was a huge TV draw, but that shouldn't be a problem even under the new format.

[duke2x]

Made it a separate post but the Greensboro hosting the ACC tournament and a first round site is a nice setup for the top ACC teams if they get placed there. Might be like the old days with Duke and UNC traveling down the road and filling the Coliseum.

I agree, but TN is also a natural fit for Greensboro if they can get in the top 8. I would much rather hear Rocky Top 46 times than share the stadium with UNC.

[DavidBenAkiva]

The Delaware Blue Hens have announced they will play Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on November 18th.

https://twitter.com/DelawareMBB/stat...43237210017801

November 7: Duke vs Jacksonville, Durham
November 11: Duke vs USC Upstate, Durham
November 15: Duke vs Kansas, Indianapolis
November 18: Duke vs Delaware, Durham
November 21: Duke vs Bellarmine, Durham
November 24-27: Duke plays 3 times at the PK85 Tournament, Portland
November 30: Duke vs Ohio State, Durham
December 6: Duke vs Iowa, New York City
March 4: Duke at North Carolina, Chapel Hill
March 7-11: ACC Tournament, Greensboro
March 12: Selection Sunday, CBS
March 16 - April 3: NCAA Tournament, Various Sites (Greensboro is the closest first weekend site, then NYC/Louisville for the Regionals and Houston for the final four)

Game Dates Unknown
ACC Opponents road: Clemson, Virginia, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Boston College, Miami, NC State and Virginia Tech
ACC Opponents home: Wake Forest, Boston College, Miami, NC State, Virginia Tech, Florida St, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and UNC-CH (probably February 4th)
Countdown to Craziness, 1 or 2 exhibitions and 1-2 other non-conference games in the December 6-January 3 time period likely.

That leaves one final non-conference game, most likely in Durham, in December.

[DavidBenAkiva]

And the last non-conference opponent this year will be Maryland-Eastern Shore. The Blue Devils will host the Hawks out of the MEAC on December 10th at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

https://twitter.com/TheD1Docket/stat...19150981320706

November 7: Duke vs Jacksonville, Durham
November 11: Duke vs USC Upstate, Durham
November 15: Duke vs Kansas, Indianapolis
November 18: Duke vs. Delaware, Durham
November 21: Duke vs Bellarmine, Durham
November 24-27: Duke plays 3 times at the PK85 Tournament, Portland
November 30: Duke vs Ohio State, Durham
December 6: Duke vs Iowa, New York City
December 10: Duke vs Maryland-Eastern Shore, Durham
March 4: Duke at North Carolina, Chapel Hill
March 7-11: ACC Tournament, Greensboro
March 12: Selection Sunday, CBS
March 16 - April 3: NCAA Tournament, Various Sites (Greensboro is the closest first weekend site, then NYC/Louisville for the Regionals and Houston for the final four)

Game Dates Unknown
ACC Opponents road: Clemson, Virginia, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Boston College, Miami, NC State and Virginia Tech
ACC Opponents home: Wake Forest, Boston College, Miami, NC State, Virginia Tech, Florida St, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and UNC-CH (probably February 4th)
Countdown to Craziness, 1 or 2 exhibitions

All in all, this is a very challenging OOC schedule for first-year head coach Jon Scheyer. The game against Kansas, the PK85 (which features Gonzaga and others in the same bracket), and two games against B1G opponents will offer a stiff test. The home slate of games should give a young team a chance to prepare for the ACC schedule.

[tommy]

And the last non-conference opponent this year will be Maryland-Eastern Shore. The Blue Devils will host the Hawks out of the MEAC on December 10th at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

https://twitter.com/TheD1Docket/stat...19150981320706



All in all, this is a very challenging OOC schedule for first-year head coach Jon Scheyer. The game against Kansas, the PK85 (which features Gonzaga and others in the same bracket), and two games against B1G opponents will offer a stiff test. The home slate of games should give a young team a chance to prepare for the ACC schedule.

Much better schedule than last year. I'm happy with the number of high level, challenging games that should be Q1 opportunities for us.

[scottdude8]

Much better schedule than last year. I'm happy with the number of high level, challenging games that should be Q1 opportunities for us.

Agreed... we did a much better job of balancing "high Q1" games (like neutral site Kansas, potential late PK80 games) with "low Q1" games (early PK80, neutral Iowa). Ohio State could potentially fall in either category.

What concerns me a bit is us continuing to not go after more "intermediate" cupcake opponents... while it doesn't make much of a difference qualitatively, it could quantitatively. Delaware was the best of our "cupcake" teams last year, at around 130 in the final NET rankings. Playing them at home, that will in all likelihood be a Q3 game unless Delaware rips through their conference. I would've loved to see a game or two against a middle-tier MVC or AAC team that could fall in Q2... heck, scheduling a team like that on the road would be a game we should win, one that would be beneficial for the growth of a young team, and would have the possibility of looking better at the end of the season if said team did well.

I'll be curious to see if Scheyer's scheduling strategy long term adapts to the reality of the NET a bit more. It probably doesn't make much of a difference to the team whether our early season tune-up is against a team ranked #100 or #200 in the NET, but, for better or worse, it does make a difference on what our "resume" looks like come season's end.

[JasonEvans]

Agreed... we did a much better job of balancing "high Q1" games (like neutral site Kansas, potential late PK80 games) with "low Q1" games (early PK80, neutral Iowa). Ohio State could potentially fall in either category.

What concerns me a bit is us continuing to not go after more "intermediate" cupcake opponents... while it doesn't make much of a difference qualitatively, it could quantitatively. Delaware was the best of our "cupcake" teams last year, at around 130 in the final NET rankings. Playing them at home, that will in all likelihood be a Q3 game unless Delaware rips through their conference. I would've loved to see a game or two against a middle-tier MVC or AAC team that could fall in Q2... heck, scheduling a team like that on the road would be a game we should win, one that would be beneficial for the growth of a young team, and would have the possibility of looking better at the end of the season if said team did well.

I'll be curious to see if Scheyer's scheduling strategy long term adapts to the reality of the NET a bit more. It probably doesn't make much of a difference to the team whether our early season tune-up is against a team ranked #100 or #200 in the NET, but, for better or worse, it does make a difference on what our "resume" looks like come season's end.

Do you really think it matters in the final seeding discussion if Duke has 8 Q2 wins and 12 Q3/4 versus Duke having 9 Q2 wins and 11 Q3/4 wins? I really don't think it makes all that much difference.

When it comes to a team like Duke, that figures to be contending for a top 4 seed, I think Q1 wins are the most important thing and avoiding bad Q3/Q4 losses are the second most important thing. I actually think a pretty good argument can be made that loading up on Q2 or even high Q3 opponents (teams that can be dangerous) is a bad idea as a loss looks pretty bad but a win really doesn't mean all that much more than beating a mediocre Q3 or Q4 team.

Now, I am not saying to load up your non-conf with Q4 clubs who bring down your SOS and look like you are not challenging yourself at all, but I would be at least a little leery of trying to find those teams in the low 100s who have a shot to knock you off but don't do all that much to enhance your resume.

-Jason "toward that end, Bellarmine scares the !#@&@& out of me" Evans

[scottdude8]

Do you really think it matters in the final seeding discussion if Duke has 8 Q2 wins and 12 Q3/4 versus Duke having 9 Q2 wins and 11 Q3/4 wins? I really don't think it makes all that much difference.

When it comes to a team like Duke, that figures to be contending for a top 4 seed, I think Q1 wins are the most important thing and avoiding bad Q3/Q4 losses are the second most important thing. I actually think a pretty good argument can be made that loading up on Q2 or even high Q3 opponents (teams that can be dangerous) is a bad idea as a loss looks pretty bad but a win really doesn't mean all that much more than beating a mediocre Q3 or Q4 team.

Now, I am not saying to load up your non-conf with Q4 clubs who bring down your SOS and look like you are not challenging yourself at all, but I would be at least a little leery of trying to find those teams in the low 100s who have a shot to knock you off but don't do all that much to enhance your resume.

-Jason "toward that end, Bellarmine scares the !#@&@& out of me" Evans

I think it depends on who we're competing against for a seed. What if Gonzaga isn't a juggernaut and we're competing with them for the last #1 seed? Then, yes, having more Q2 wins on our resume would matter, especially given the high number of Q3 and Q4 games on Gonzaga's schedule. If the ACC is down again this year and we get a number of unexpected Q3 games in conference, then this could also be a factor.

But I think where this would have more of an effect is in the "dork polls," and in turn our NET Ranking. Yes, the NET ranking as a number is less important than the resume. But that number is a factor on our resume, as is our KenPom ranking, etc. My understanding is that a convincing victory over a #100 team would potentially help in those metrics compared to a blowout over a #250 team. But I could very well be wrong on that.

[CDu]

But I think where this would have more of an effect is in the "dork polls," and in turn our NET Ranking. Yes, the NET ranking as a number is less important than the resume. But that number is a factor on our resume, as is our KenPom ranking, etc. My understanding is that a convincing victory over a #100 team would potentially help in those metrics compared to a blowout over a #250 team. But I could very well be wrong on that.

It depends on what the results are in either scenario, and each metric will be affected differently. But I would not expect there to be a clear edge one way or the other in the dork polls, because there would only be - at best - a marginal impact on the team's overall per-possession stats by playing a Q2 opponent vs a Q3/Q4 opponent. And honestly I'm not sure which direction it would go. If we struggle to beat a Q2 opponent, that is probably WORSE in the dork polls than hammering a Q3/Q4 opponent. If we blow out a Q2 opponent, that is probably better than hammering a Q3/Q4 opponent. Either scenario is possible. But that's just ~1/34th of the total resume, and it would be only a very marginal difference in that 1/34th of the resume.

But I think the place where the schedule matters is in getting Q1 wins. I tend to agree with Jason that a single extra Q2 game instead of a Q3/4 game doesn't move the dork poll needle at all.

[tommy]

I think it depends on who we're competing against for a seed. What if Gonzaga isn't a juggernaut and we're competing with them for the last #1 seed? Then, yes, having more Q2 wins on our resume would matter, especially given the high number of Q3 and Q4 games on Gonzaga's schedule. If the ACC is down again this year and we get a number of unexpected Q3 games in conference, then this could also be a factor.

But I think where this would have more of an effect is in the "dork polls," and in turn our NET Ranking. Yes, the NET ranking as a number is less important than the resume. But that number is a factor on our resume, as is our KenPom ranking, etc. My understanding is that a convincing victory over a #100 team would potentially help in those metrics compared to a blowout over a #250 team. But I could very well be wrong on that.

Whether it helps our NET or dork polls or not, and I think it would especially if we replaced 2-3 of those Q4 cupcakes with more solid Q2 team, I think another benefit of scheduling a few more decent teams and few less walkovers is that it is likely to make OUR team better. What do we really gain from killing Maryland-Eastern Shore or USC-Upstate other than padding our record? We'd grow more as a team by replacing a couple of those with some more mid majors, where we're still very likely to win the game, but we'd also be more challenged and have more to learn from it.

[JasonEvans]

Whether it helps our NET or dork polls or not, and I think it would especially if we replaced 2-3 of those Q4 cupcakes with more solid Q2 team, I think another benefit of scheduling a few more decent teams and few less walkovers is that it is likely to make OUR team better. What do we really gain from killing Maryland-Eastern Shore or USC-Upstate other than padding our record? We'd grow more as a team by replacing a couple of those with some more mid majors, where we're still very likely to win the game, but we'd also be more challenged and have more to learn from it.

Well, we typically play those cupcakes early in the year and they are sprinkled in alongside very tough Q1 games like Kansas, Iowa, Ohio St, and the PK tourney. This Duke team, like pretty much all Duke teams for the past decade, is really, really young and has a ton to learn about playing together. I think getting at least a few cupcakes where we can experiment a bit with combos and schemes while the players experiment to see what individual stuff works and what does not seems like a good idea.

[UrinalCake]

I would rather schedule our cupcake games against 150-200 RPI opponents rather than 300+ RPI opponents. Aside from the SOS impact which I do think is significant, playing teams that are that bad feels like a waste of time and could even develop bad habits since it's easier to get away with them. Who cares if your man blows by you, it's easy enough to recover and block his shot anyways. Plus the barrel-scraping teams always run really small lineups and jack up a ton of threes so it's not as useful of a practice session.

I do have to say that I'm happy with this schedule though. Lots of exposure to the big game environment for our young team.