Duke basketball schedule 2024-25: Showdowns vs. Kansas, Kentucky lead rankings of top five nonconference games

Duke opens up the 2024-25 season on Nov. 4 at home in Durham, North Carolina, against Maine and plays another game at Cameron Indoor Stadium vs. Army on Nov. 8 before the challenging part of its nonconference slate begins with a bang. The Blue Devils will face Kentucky in one of two marquee matchups in a doubleheader (Kansas vs. Michigan State is the other) at the State Farm Champions Classic in an early-season showdown.

Duke also has games vs. Arizona, Kansas, and Auburn before ACC play begins. The Blue Devils also face Illinois on Feb. 22 at Madison Square Garden, less than a month before the NCAA Tournament tips off.

The Blue Devils are ranked No. 9 in Gary Parrish’s latest Top 25 and 1 and enter the season with national title aspirations due to the arrival of five-star forward Cooper Flagg — the top-ranked player from the 2024 recruiting cycle, according to 247Sports. Duke returns Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster from last season’s squad that reached the Elite Eight and added Mason Gillis (Purdue), Maliq Brown (Syracuse) and Sion James (Tulane) to the top-ranked high school recruiting class that features Flagg, Khaman Maluach, Isaiah Evans, Kon Knueppel, Patrick Ngongba ll and Darren Harris.

The ACC schedule will be announced laster, but here are the Blue Devils’ top five nonconference games to look forward to this season.

1. Kansas (Vegas Showdown)

When: Nov. 26, 2024 | Where: T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas)

Kansas enters the season as the likely preseason No. 1 ranked team and checked in as Gary Parrish’s top-ranked team in the latest Top 25 and 1. Expectations for Bill Self and company will be as high as ever after a disappointing exit in the NCAA Tournament last spring. After falling to Gonzaga in the second round, Kansas loaded up in the transfer portal by landing former Wisconsin and St. John’s forward AJ Storr, Alabama forward Rylan Griffen and South Dakota State guard Zeke Mayo alongside blue-chip incoming freshmen Flory Bidunga (No. 14 overall) and Rakease Passmore (No. 49 overall). The Jayhawks also return veterans Hunter Dickinson, KJ Adams Jr. and Dajuan Harris Jr. Both teams will likely be ranked in the top five when this game tips off, and it should be one of the best games of the entire season.

2. at Arizona

When: Nov. 21, 2024 | Where: McKale Center (Tucson, Arizona)

Caleb Love vs. Duke will forever be a box office draw. After the Wildcats went to Durham and knocked off Duke last fall, the second leg of the home-and-home series will go down at the McKale Center during the opening month of the season. Arizona lost four starters from last year’s team that reached the Sweet 16, but the one starter that does return is Love — one of the top contenders to win Naismith Player of the Year. Tommy Lloyd and company reloaded via the transfer portal by landing Trey Townsend (Oakland), Tobe Awaka (Tennessee) and Anthony Dell’Orso (Campbell). The Wildcats also added four-star forward Carter Bryant, who will play a large role during his freshman campaign. Two breakout stars to watch: Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis.

3. Kentucky (Champions Classic)

When: Nov. 12, 2024 | Where: State Farm Arena (Atlanta)

It will be a new era in the Bluegrass State this season. John Calipari and every UK scholarship player from the 2023-24 season is out, and Mark Pope and a new-look roster are in. The biggest story of the offseason came hours before the national title game when Calipari announced he was departing his post to take the vacant job at Arkansas, promoting the program to hire Pope — a former beloved player from Kentucky’s 1996 national title team. The Wildcats roster is full of new faces, and among them are Jaxson Robinson (BYU), Amari Williams (Drexel), Lamont Butler (San Diego State), Otega Oweh (Oklahoma), Andrew Carr (Wake Forest) and Koby Brea (Dayton).

4. Illinois

When: Feb. 22, 2025 | Where: Madison Square Garden (New York)

Nonconference games in February (especially marquee ones) have become increasingly rarer because of conference realignment. College basketball fans will get a treat when Duke squares off with Illinois at MSG. Illinois lost Terrence Shannon Jr. (NBA Draft) and Coleman Hawkins (transfer to Kansas State) from a team that reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 2005 but reloaded by adding blue-chip prospects Will Riley, Morez Johnson, Kasparas Jakucionis and Tomislav Ivišić, the brother of Arkansas big man Zvonimir Ivišić. Brad Underwood also landed former Arizona guard Kylan Boswell and Notre Dame forward Carey Booth via the transfer portal to compete in a new-look Big Ten.

5. vs. Auburn (ACC/SEC Challenge)

When: Dec. 4, 2024 | Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium (Durham, North Carolina)

The ACC/SEC Challenge will be a fun one, and one of the top matchups on the slate is Duke’s clash with Auburn at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Tigers bowed out of the NCAA Tournament early with a loss to Yale. Bruce Pearl and company have eyes on making noise in the new-look SEC after adding Georgia Tech forward Miles Kelly and Furman standout JP Pegues via the transfer portal. More reason for optimism: Auburn returns All-American candidate Johni Broome and has top-30 freshman Tahaad Pettiford entering the program. Playing in front of the Cameron Crazies should test Auburn ahead of SEC play.

Duke 2023-24 nonconference schedule