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Duke Basketball: Blue Devils 2019-20 season preview

By Matthew Travis

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: The Duke Blue Devils mascot performs against the Michigan State Spartans during the second half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: The Duke Blue Devils mascot performs against the Michigan State Spartans during the second half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – MARCH 16: The Duke Blue Devils pose with the ACC Championship trophy after defeating the Florida State Seminoles 73-63 in the championship game of the 2019 Men’s ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 16, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – MARCH 16: The Duke Blue Devils pose with the ACC Championship trophy after defeating the Florida State Seminoles 73-63 in the championship game of the 2019 Men’s ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 16, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

2019-20 season prediction

Duke will be a much different team for the 2019-20 season than they were with Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish. Vernon Carey jr., Matthew Hurt, Wendell Moore, Cassius Stanley and Tre Jones are ready to prove what the Blue Devils are capable of.

Duke will face several tests during non-conference play, but none of these teams will truly threaten the Blue Devils except for Michigan State. As mentioned earlier, Michigan State has a very talented roster and I for one wouldn’t be surprised if they fall to the Spartans.

However, this is the only game I could see Duke losing before conference play kicks off. Coach K and company should be able to handle Kansas without an issue to kick off the season and they won’t play another team that will challenge them until they likely face Texas at the end of November.

While this will likely be a good game, Duke should come out of this without struggling too much and keeping their undefeated season intact. Overall I think Duke will come out of non-conference play with a record of 10-1.

ACC play, however, is a different story. The ACC appears to be weaker this season than it has in year’s past, but they still have several national title contenders.

Louisville looks like they will be a force to be reckoned with, Virginia is the reigning National Champion, North Carolina has Cole Anthony, Florida State looks solid once again, NC State looks decent and then there’s Duke.

Being the reigning ACC Champions, Duke will have a target on their backs, as per usual. However, teams that Duke shouldn’t struggle with include Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Boston College, NC State, Virginia, Miami, Pitt and Wake Forest.

That being said, I see Duke coming out of conference play with a record of 16-4. I could see Duke losing a game to North Carolina and then some combination of games to Louisville, Clemson, Florida State and Clemson.

Duke is always a question mark in ACC play and the last several years they have dropped at least one game to a random ACC team. Because of this, I would somewhat expect to do that once again this year, but who that will be is a mystery to me.

With a record of 16-4 in ACC play and 10-1 in non-conference play, the Blue Devils will at least get a share of the ACC Regular Season title for the first time since the 2009-10 season with a record of 26-5.

As for the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, I would wait and see how Duke does in the regular season before predicting that. However, if I had to guess how they end up now I’d say Duke SHOULD win the ACC Tournament and they will likely be an Elite Eight or Final Four team once again.

Next. Mount Rushmores of top-25 programs all-time. dark

As for winning the National Championship, I’m not entirely sold that they’re a team capable of winning it quite yet, but it is very possible. The only reason I’m hesitant to say that they can win it is because of the fact that they haven’t with as talented of rosters as they’ve had in recent years.

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