Duke Basketball: Previewing 2021-22 ACC schedule after non-conference play

January Opponents and Predictions

January 1 @ Notre Dame

Notre Dame is one of the most confusing teams in the ACC, they’ve lost five games, including a game to Boston College, and yet they somehow beat Kentucky. That being said, nobody quite knows what Notre Dame team is going to show up on any given night, but more times than not, it’s not a good one.

Prediction:

I wouldn’t expect this one to be close really at all, Notre Dame is 4-5, and has looked really bad at times, I believe the Kentucky game was simply a fluke, and I don’t see them pulling off the massive upset against the Blue Devils.

January 4 vs. Georgia Tech

The reigning ACC Tournament Champions have struggled in a pretty large way so far this season. The Yellow Jackets opened up the month of December with a pretty brutal schedule against Wisconsin, North Carolina, LSU, and USC, and they lost each of the four games, after having already suffered a bad loss against Miami of Ohio in November.

Prediction:

Georgia Tech doesn’t have a good win yet this season, with their best win coming against Georgia, who is ranked 136th in the KenPom Rankings, and I don’t see them getting their first big win against the second-ranked Duke Blue Devils.

January 8 vs. Miami

Miami is a bit of an interesting team, they’re 8-3 on the season with their losses being to UCF (48th in KenPom), Dayton (97th in KenPom), and Alabama (17th in KenPom), and wins against Penn State (88th in KenPom), and Clemson (46th in KenPom). That being said, Miami is inconsistent at best, but I don’t see them poising too much of a problem for Duke.

Prediction: 

Duke currently has a 91.9% chance to beat Miami according to ESPN’s BPI, and I would fully expect the Blue Devils to beat the Hurricanes by about 20 or more.

January 12 @ Wake Forest

Wake Forest is the only other ACC team with only one loss, as the Demon Deacons are now 12-1 (benefitted from Boston College forfeiting a game this week due to COVID-19 problems). Wake Forest is 12-1, but they have played only two good teams, Northwestern who they beat 77-73, and LSU who they lost to, 75-61.

Prediction:

If Duke were to lose any of their ACC games, it’s probably most likely to be this game against Wake Forest. HOWEVER, I don’t see Duke dropping this one to the Demon Deacons, yes they’ve won their games up to this point, but they’re not proven and have yet to show me they’re capable of beating Duke right now.

January 15 vs. NC State

NC State has been underwhelming, to say the least, this season. The Wolfpack are currently 7-4, and the outlook on their season could be a lot different right now had they finished off Purdue as they led by double-digits with under 10 minutes to go in the game, but they would go onto lose in overtime.

Prediction:

There is no reason Duke shouldn’t beat NC State by 20+ in this one, the Wolfpack look really, really bad, and should be able to run all over them from start to finish.

January 18 @ Florida State

Coming into the season, Florida State was the team I was most worried about when it comes to ACC play, but that narrative has certainly changed over the past month and a half. The Seminoles are another team that simply, has not looked good this year as they are 6-4, with a really bad loss to a South Carolina team who is ranked 103rd in the KenPom Rankings.

Prediction:

According to ESPN’s BPI, Duke has only a 62.9% chance to beat Florida State but based on the losses the Seminoles already have, and the manner in which they lost some of those games, I don’t see Duke struggling too much in Tallahassee, and the Blue Devils should be able to win this one without too much of a problem.

January 22 vs. Syracuse

Syracuse has gotten off to a very bad start to their 2021-22 season, they currently sit at 5-5 with losses to Colgate, VCU, and Georgetown, certainly not games they should be losing. The Orange do have a win against a Florida State team who is ranked 38th in the KenPom Rankings but take that with a grain of salt as Florida State is currently 6-4.

Prediction:

These predictions might be getting a little redundant, but Duke really is better than every ACC team, and it’s a little unrealistic to pick any of them to beat Duke at this moment in time. That being said, Duke should beat the pulp out of the Orange.

January 25 vs. Clemson

The January 25th matchup against Clemson will be the second between the Blue Devils and the Tigers. might be 8-4 so far this season, their eight wins are against teams ranked 91st or lower in the KenPom Rankings, so take their record with a grain of salt. By the time this game rolls around at the end of January, we will have a better idea of who this Clemson team really is, but at this moment in time, I would say their record isn’t indicative of the team they really are, and I wouldn’t expect them to be fighting for an NCAA Tournament spot come March.

Prediction:

Like the game at the end of December, I fully expect Duke to handle the Clemson Tigers with ease when the Tigers come to Cameron Indoor Stadium at the end of January.

January 29 @ Louisville

Louisville is a very interesting team, on the one hand, they’ve beaten teams like Mississippi State and Maryland, but on the other, they’ve lost to Furman, Western Kentucky, and DePaul. That being said, you have no idea what Louisville team is going to show up on any given night, but the Cardinals currently sit with a 7-4 record.

Prediction:

This is a game Duke shouldn’t really struggle with, the Cardinals’ only game against a currently ranked team was when they played in East Lansing against Michigan State, a game Louisville would go onto lose 73-64.