Duke Basketball: Realistic expectations for Blue Devils for 2019-20 season
Be undefeated against in-state teams
Duke plays five games against in-state opponents this season with two games against rival UNC, two games against little brother NC State and one game against Wake Forest. Wake Forest should definitely be an easy win, NC State shouldn’t be much of a challenge and UNC is… well UNC.
Duke lost two of three games to North Carolina last season, notably both games they lost were without Zion Williamson, but nonetheless, they lost. This season, however, will be much different, the Tar Heels as mentioned earlier, look as if they’re turning the page with their program.
Prior to Tony Bradley, the Tar Heels had never been a one-and-done team, if you went to North Carolina it was expected that you’d be there for at least two seasons. However, last season both Coby White and Nassir Little left Chapel Hill after only one season and this season it looks like Cole Anthony and Armando Bacot will be doing the same.
Because of that, I think UNC will be near the midway point in the ACC and they won’t be too much of a contender for the ACC crown. Without Luke Maye for the first time in years, the Tar Heels will be looking for someone new to take over.
That person will likely come in the form of Cole Anthony who is arguably one of the best, if not the best point guard in the nation. Because of that, it will be interesting to see how Tre Jones and the Blue Devils size up against him on defense.
Next. ACC preseason power rankings for 2019-20. dark
Aside from UNC, the other two in-state opponents for Duke are Wake Forest and NC State, two teams that shouldn’t pose much of a challenge at all for Duke. Since the 2015-16 season, the Blue Devils are a combined 12-2 against NC State and Wake Forest.
It is because of this that I simply don’t see Duke losing either of these games and they could potentially go undefeated against in-state opponents if all goes well against Carolina.