The Blue Devils, who return 11 letterwinners and four starters from last year’s team that finished 28-6 overall and ranked ninth in the final AP poll, face another demanding schedule in 2008-09.
Duke begins the season at home on Nov. 10 against Delaware in the opening round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. Georgia Southern and Presbyterian also will play an opening round game on Nov. 10 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The first round winners will square off on Nov. 11 to advance to the semifinals of the event at Madison Square Garden. Michigan, Southern Illinois and UCLA also will host first and second round games in the tournament.
Duke’s non-conference schedule also features home games versus Rhode Island, Montana, Duquesne, UNC Asheville, Loyola (Md.), Davidson and Georgetown. The Blue Devils non-conference road schedule includes games at Purdue (ACC/Big Ten Challenge), Michigan and St. John’s as well as a neutral site contest in East Rutherford, N.J., at the Izod Center versus Xavier.
Duke again will have a full slate of television contests, with all 29 guaranteed regular season games scheduled to be aired on either national or regional television. Including the opening round of the ACC Tournament, which will be played in Atlanta, Ga., the Blue Devils will appear on national television at least 27 times this season on ABC, CBS, ESPN, espn2, ESPNU and FSN (Fox Sports Net). Raycom (RAY) will broadcast Duke’s Feb. 7 game vs. Miami and March 4 tilt vs. Florida State, while Fox Sports Net South will televise the Nov. 23 game against Montana.
In addition to its non-conference schedule, Duke will face another rigorous ACC slate in 2008-09. The Blue Devils will play home-and-home series with Florida State, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest this season. Duke also will host Miami and Virginia, while making road trips to Boston College and Georgia Tech.
Duke has won seven ACC regular season championships in the past 12 years and seven of the last 10 ACC Tournament titles. The Blue Devils have compiling an impressive 154-38 league record over the past 12 seasons, including a 13-3 mark last year.
Duke will play three exhibition contests, including the Blue-White Game on Oct. 18. Virginia Union (Oct. 25) and Lenoir-Rhyne (Nov. 5) will also come to Cameron Indoor Stadium prior to the beginning of the regular season.