NCAA Basketball: 5 toughest non-conference schedules for 2018-19
By Brian Rauf
5. Duke
Home: Army, Eastern Michigan, Indiana, Stetson, Hartford, Yale, Princeton, St. John’s
Neutral: Kentucky, Maui Invitational, Texas Tech
Away: None
Yes, the Blue Devils continue to avoid true non-conference road games like the plague, but this is still one of the toughest schedules in the country.
Their Champions Classic matchup against Kentucky will open the new season and will likely determine who will be the No. 1 team in the country for the early part of the year. Duke’s historic freshmen class will be immediately tested.
Related Story. Why Duke will be better than UNC in 2018-19. light
Of course, Duke’s trip to Maui will also provide three must-watch games during Feast Week. The Blue Devils will start with a solid San Diego State team before facing either Auburn (another preseason top 10 team) or Xavier. Then, if they were to reach the final as expected, Coach K’s squad would likely take on either Arizona or Gonzaga (Illinois and Iowa State are also on the other side of the bracket).
Those are four of the biggest marquee non-conference games of the year, yet Duke solidified their schedule with several more games against NCAA Tournament-level competition in Indiana, Texas Tech, and St. John’s. Yale and Princeton are also formidable opponents.
While the lack of a true road test keeps Duke low on this list and worthy of your clever barbs on Twitter, the overall quality they’ll face can’t be ignored.