Top 10 Duke Basketball Games of the 2023 - 2024 Season
We are just two weeks away till the start of the 2023 - 2024 Duke Basketball season with Countdown to Craziness set to take place on Friday October 20th at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Check out the article below for Duke Report's Top 10 Duke Basketball games of the 2023 - 2024 season.
Last season Duke Basketball finished with a 27 - 9 record finishing the season winning the ACC Tournament and making it to the Round of 32 in the NCAA tournament in Jon Scheyer's first season as head coach. Duke went 14 -6 in ACC conference play as well as undefeated in Cameron Indoor Stadium with a 16 - 0 record.
The 2023 - 2024 Duke Basketball schedule was recently released. After looking at the schedule, one thing is for sure, this team will again be battle tested for March Madness.
With that said, here is my list of the Top 10 Duke Basketball games I am looking forward to this season in order of when they play:
#1 - vs Arizona 11/10/23 at Cameron Indoor Stadium - Durham, NC
The second regular season game for Duke will have them play Arizona on a Friday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium. This will be a home and home series for Duke vs Arizona with Arizona getting the home game for the 2024 season. Duke and Arizona have a history of playing each other in the NCAA tournament. You can look back to Duke beating Arizona in the NCAA Tournament final to win its third national championship in 2001. Ten years later, Arizona would knock out Duke in the Sweet 16 with Kyrie Irving finally back on the team in what many Duke fans thought could have possibly been a season with a run of back to back championships. The upcoming Duke vs Arizona game could potentially be a top 15 or top 10 game.
#2 - vs Michigan State 11/14/23 at United Center - Chicago, IL
Duke will play Michigan State this season in the Champions Classic. The Champions Classic has always made my top 10 list. Duke vs Michigan State is a Blue Bloods battle that always has the hype. It will be a game fans, NBA scouts, and people everywhere tune in to watch. Duke has played Michigan State four times previously in the Champions Classic leading the series 3 - 1 with wins in 2011, 2014, and 2017 but a loss in 2020. Duke and Kansas have the best record in the Champions Classic at 7 – 5 followed by Kentucky and Michigan State at 5 – 7. Each team has at least one victory over each team in the Champions Classic. Duke vs Michigan State has the potential to be a top 10 maybe even top 5 game.
#3 - vs Arkansas 11/29/23 at Bud Walton Arena - Fayetteville, AR
Duke will travel to Fayetteville to take on Arkansas in the first edition of the ACC/SEC Challenge. There is some history between these two teams. The last time Duke played Arkansas was in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Duke beat Arkansas by a score of 78 - 69 in the Elite 8 to make it to the Final Four in Coach K's last season at Duke. Arkansas also won its first national championship beating Duke in the final in the 1994 NCAA Tournament. This game has the potential to be a top 25 maybe even top 15 game.
#4 - vs Baylor 12/20/23 at Madison Square Garden - New York, NY
You already should know that a game at Madison Square Garden... I mean 'Cameron North' would make my top 10 list of games. There is some history between these teams. I can remember back to the 2010 NCAA Tournament when Nolan Smith dropped 29 points and Jon Scheyer put in 20 points to help Duke beat Baylor 78 - 71 in the Elite 8 on their way to Duke's fourth national championship. Baylor has also had recent success on the big stage winning the 2021 NCAA tournament. The Duke fanbase is always well represented at MSG when they play games there. This game has the potential to be a top 25 game.
#5 - vs Pittsburgh 1/20/24 at Cameron Indoor Stadium - Durham, NC
Jeff Capel a Brotherhood member who was a former player and assistant coach for Duke leads the Pittsburgh Panthers as they will play Duke in a home and away series on the ACC schedule this season. In the span of just eleven days Duke and Pittsburgh will play each other two times. The last meeting 1/20/24 in the regular season will be at Cameron Indoor Stadium. By then, both teams should know each other pretty well. Pittsburgh loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals last season.
#6 - vs Virginia Tech 1/29/24 at Cassell Coliseum - Blacksburg, VA
Three things I am certain of in life - death, taxes, and Duke Basketball playing away in Blacksburg. OK... Duke doesn't always play every season in Blacksburg but they seem to play there often. Road games in Blacksburg have at times been a challenge for previous Duke teams. The Virginia Tech fanbase always seems to bring the football atmosphere inside Cassell Coliseum when Duke comes to town.
I expect to hear "Enter Sandman" cranking up on the speakers as Virginia Tech gets ready for a match-up with the Blue Devils.
There is plenty of history between these teams. I personally have been to several Duke vs VT games in Blacksburg. I remember hearing the foul language being yelled at JJ Redick on the court back in the early 2000's as fans were not a happy a player from nearby Roanoke was playing at Duke.
I can remember in 2011 when Duke fans were hoping to see Kyrie Irving potentially come back from his injury and play only for him to not play just yet as VT upset Duke and stormed the court. See my video below. A win over Duke is other team's Super Bowl.
One can even look back to the game last season in Blacksburg when Kyle Filipowski took a throat punch toward the end of the game from an opposing VT player yet the refs swallowed their whistles. Virginia Tech went on to win a controversial game. Well Flip has returned back to Duke and Duke once again travels to Blacksburg for a Monday night game that should have plenty of emotion.
#7 - vs North Carolina 2/3/24 at Smith Center - Chapel Hill, NC
This rivalry needs no introduction. Last season the Jon Scheyer lead Blue Devils swept the Tarheels in the regular season. The Blue Devils will travel eight miles down the road to play the Tarheels in Chapel Hill for the first game in the series this season. Unc has the potential to have a better year after missing the NCAA tournament last season. You can always throw out the rankings and records when these two teams play. It is the biggest rivalry in all of sports. There have been some epic moments in the Dean Dome for Duke Basketball.
- Fans can look back on the quick Chris Duhon layup in overtime in 2004 that gave Duke the win.
- And I bet every Duke fan can remember where they were when Austin Rivers sank the 3-pointer buzzer beater over UNC in 2012.
- We can even look back to a more recent game from 2020 when Tre Jones missed a free throw on purpose and got the rebound and made the shot to force overtime with the Tarheels.
Then in overtime Wendell Moore Jr put back the Tre Jones missed shot as the time ran out to give the Blue Devils the win in Chapel Hill.
There is nothing like the Duke vs North Carolina rivalry on Tobacco Road. With that said, this game has the potential to be a top 25 game.
#8 - vs Miami 2/21/24 at Watsco Center - Coral Gables, FL
Duke will play Miami once in the regular season which will be a road game in Coral Gables, Florida. Jim Larranaga and the Hurricanes are coming off a Final Four run from the 2023 NCAA Tournament. This is the second game of a three straight road games stretch for the Blue Devils in February. I haven't done my game predictions yet, but this game to me in my opinion has 'trap' written all over it. Playing on the road in the ACC is tough. Playing three straight road games in the ACC is tougher. This game has the potential to be a top 25 game.
#9 - vs Virginia 3/2/24 at Cameron Indoor Stadium - Durham, NC
There have been some epic battles between Duke and Virginia over the years at John Paul Jones Arena and Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke fans still remember the 2015 match-up at John Paul Jones Arena when Duke ended Virginia's undefeated streak when Tyus "Stones" Jones knocked down a three-pointer in the final seconds to seal the win.
Another classic game was at Cameron Indoor Stadium on 2/13/16 when Grayson Allen drove to the rim in the final seconds floating in the buzzer beater over Virginia as Cameron Indoor Stadium erupted.
Check out the video below to see my viewpoint from the lower level from that epic game.
And another classic was on 2/9/19 at JPJ arena when Zion Williamson made a jaw dropping block on Virginia's De'Andre Hunter that sent the ball into the crowd. To this day I still question if the ball from that Zion blocked shot didn't somehow end up in downtown Charlottesville.
Last season Duke played Virginia on the road in Charlottesville and lost in overtime by a score of 69 - 62. This was yet another controversial game (that's 2 controversial games last season for Duke in my state of Virginia lol). With 1.2 seconds remaining on the clock and the game tied at 58 points each, Flip got the pass and drove to the basket and was fouled by Beekman. This would have sent Flip to the line for a pair of potentially game-winning free throws. The officials would overturn the call after determining Beekman’s contest resulted in a blocked shot as time ran out even though the replay showed Flip being hit in the air with time on the clock.
Duke got their revenge last season beating Virginia in the ACC Tournament championship under first year head coach Jon Scheyer.
This season the Cavaliers travel to Durham to play Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium. This has the potential to be another exciting showdown.
#10 - vs North Carolina 3/9/24 at Cameron Indoor Stadium - Durham, NC
Duke will close out the regular season schedule playing North Carolina at home in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Tarheels will travel eight miles down the road to play in front of a rowdy group of Cameron Crazies who will have finished camping out in Krzyzewskiville for weeks just to get into the game that is the biggest rivalry in sports. As stated before, you can always throw out the rankings and records when these two teams play. One would think with it being "The Rivalry" that ESPN will once again bring its crew to do a live taping of ESPN College GameDay. There are so many epic moments in this rivalry that if I started writing about them all... I would end up with a book instead of an article.
I went to my first Duke vs UNC game in Cameron Indoor Stadium (as a fan) back in 2013. With a digital camera and an iphone I documented my experience. You can see that video below.
This game is one of the toughest tickets in all of sports to get. I encourage all Duke fans that if the opportunity is there for you to go to this game in Cameron... do it! It is an experience you will never forget. I expect this game in Cameron as usual to be another intense game in the rivalry.
Duke will play 9 games out of its 31 regular season games against NCAA Tournament teams from last season.
- 1 game vs Arizona (home)
- 1 game vs Michigan State (neutral) - Champions Classic
- 1 game vs Arkansas (away) - ACC/SEC Challenge
- 1 game vs Baylor (neutral MSG)
- 2 games vs Pittsburgh (home and away)
- 1 game vs Miami (away)
- 1 game vs Virginia (home)
- 1 game vs NC State (away)
Duke will play 1 game against a team from the Final Four last season - at Miami on 2/21/24.
These are the 10 games that I am most looking forward to this season. When March Madness comes around, Duke will once again be battle tested and ready.
Did I miss a top game? What game (or games) are you most looking forward to? Reply in the blog and let us know or reach out on Twitter @DukeReport and @Skeelow22 to let us know your top Duke Basketball games you are looking forward to.
