Duquesne Basketball: Ranking the 13 non-con opponents for 2023-24 season

It was a big past season for Duquesne Basketball, winning 20 total games and being in the mix for a double-bye in the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament. The improvement from the previous 6-win campaign was shown early on in the non-conference, beating legit mid-major opponents such as UC Santa Barbara, Colgate, and Indiana State.

With the Dukes returning its top two scorers and bringing in a veteran class of frontcourt players, the intentions look to be competing for a postseason appearance in either the NCAA Tournament or the NIT. The team recently released a funny video, featuring the 13 confirmed non-conference opponents for the 2023-24 campaign.

For this piece, I’ll be ranking the 13 foes Duquesne Basketball will be facing. But there’s no question who comes last as it’s literally a brand new program. Cleary University is introducing new men’s and women’s basketball teams, with this year being their inaugural season.

Their first-ever head coach is Carl Thomas, who has been an assistant with the Dukes for the past six years under coach Keith Dambrot. So the familiarity alone is going to be a nice storyline in what otherwise will be a forgettable game.

The matchup is set for December 30th, the last game before the start of A-10 play on the road at UMass. For the rest of the schedule with more meaningful opponents, here’s how they rank in terms of talent.