Busting Brackets
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Duke Basketball: Breaking down Blue Devils’ non-conference schedule

By Drew Dinnhaupt

DURHAM, NC - FEBRUARY 18: Allen (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NC - FEBRUARY 18: Allen (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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DURHAM, NC – NOVEMBER 29: Chase Jeter
DURHAM, NC – NOVEMBER 29: Chase Jeter /

First Ten Days

The first ten days of Duke’s schedule are certainly busy, featuring five contests. Back-to-back home games against Elon and Utah Valley on November 10 and 11 respectively begin Duke’s season. Duke should handily defeat both opponents before matching up with Michigan State, the No. 4 team in SB Nation’s preseason top 25, in Chicago for the State Farm Champions Classic.  In a matchup that could genuinely go either way, this contest looks to be perhaps the best non-conference game of the season. The two programs met last season in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge, where the No. 5 Blue Devils pulled a nine-point win over the unranked Spartans.

Southern and Furman each travel to Cameron Indoor on November 17 and 20, respectively. Again, the Blue Devils should not have many issues against this pair of low-major programs.

At best, Duke finishes 5-0 after a busy schedule early on. With a win over Michigan State, Duke should be receiving No. 1 votes in the AP poll at this juncture.

In the worst case scenario, Duke is 4-1, with the lone loss to a top team in Michigan State. Regardless of the early loss, Duke should still be a top 10 team nationally.

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