Duke Basketball Schedule 2024-25: Showdowns against Kansas, Kentucky lead ranking of top five nonconference games

Duke will open the 2024-25 season against Maine at home in Durham, North Carolina on Nov. 4 and play another game against Army at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Nov. 8 before the challenging portion of its nonconference slate kicks off with a bang. The Blue Devils will face Kentucky in one of two marquee contests in the State Farm Champions Classic, which will be a doubleheader (the other is Kansas vs. Michigan State).

Duke also has games against Arizona, Kansas and Auburn before ACC play begins. The Blue Devils also face Illinois at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 22, less than a month before the NCAA Tournament begins.

The Blue Devils are ranked as follows Number 9 in Gary Parrish’s latest Top 25 and 1 and enter the season with national title aspirations thanks to the arrival of five-star forward Cooper Flag — The top-ranked players from the 2024 recruiting cycle, according to 247Sports. Duke brings back Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster from last season’s team that reached the Elite Eight and added Mason Gillis (Purdue), Malik Brown (Syracuse) and Sion James (Tulane) to a top-ranked high school recruiting class that includes Flagg, Khaman Maluch, Isaiah Evans, Kon Knueppel, Patrick Ngongba II and Darren Harris.

The ACC schedule will be announced at a later date, but here are the Blue Devils’ top five non-conference games this season.

1. Kansas (Vegas Showdown)

When: November 26, 2024 | Where: T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas)

Kansas enters the season as the likely preseason No. 1 ranked team and Gary Parrish’s Top Ranked Team in the latest Top 25 and 1. Expectations will be as high as ever for Bill Self and company after a disappointing exit in the NCAA Tournament last spring. After losing to Gonzaga in the second round, Kansas loaded up in the transfer portal, landing blue-chip incoming freshmen Flory Bidunga (No. 14 overall) and Rakeez Passmore (No. 49 overall) along with former Wisconsin and St. John’s forward AJ Storr, Alabama forward Rylan Griffen and South Dakota State guard Zeke Mayo. The Jayhawks have also brought back veteran players like Hunter Dickinson, KJ Adams Jr. and DeJuan Harris Jr. Both teams will be ranked in the top five when this game begins, and it should be one of the best games of the entire season.

2. In Arizona

When: November 21, 2024 | Where: McKale Center (Tucson, Arizona)

Caleb Love vs. Duke will always be a box office highlight. After the Wildcats went to Durham and beat Duke last year, the second leg of the home-and-home series will be played at McKale Center in the opening month of the season. Arizona lost four starters from last year’s team that reached the Sweet 16, but one starter who returns is Love — one of the top contenders to win Naismith Player of the Year. Tommy Lloyd and company reloaded via the transfer portal by bringing in Trey Townsend (Oakland), Tobe Awaka (Tennessee) and Anthony Dell’Orso (Campbell). The Wildcats also added four-star forward Carter Bryant, who will play a big role during his freshman campaign. Two breakout stars worth watching: Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis.

3. Kentucky (Champions Classic)

When: November 12, 2024 | Where: State Farm Arena (Atlanta)

This season will begin a new era in the Bluegrass State. John Calipari and every UK scholarship player for the 2023-24 season are out, and Mark Pope and a new-look roster are in. The biggest story of the offseason came just hours before the national title game when Calipari announced he was leaving his post to take over the vacant position at Arkansas, prompting the program to hire Pope — a beloved former player from Kentucky’s 1996 national title team. The Wildcats roster is full of new faces, and they include Jackson Robinson (BYU), Amari Williams (Drexel), Lamont Butler (San Diego State), Otega Oweh (Oklahoma), Andrew Carr (Wake Forest) and Koby Bray (Dayton).

4. Illinois

When: February 22, 2025 | Where: Madison Square Garden (New York)

Non-conference games (especially marquee ones) in February have become increasingly rare due to conference realignment. College basketball fans will get a treat when Duke takes on Illinois at MSG. Illinois lost Terrence Shannon Jr. (NBA draft) and Coleman Hawkins (transfer to Kansas State), reaching the Elite Eight for the first time since 2005, but reloaded by adding blue-chip prospects Will Riley, Morez Johnson, Kaspars Jakusionis and Tomislav Ivcic, the brother of Arkansas big man Zvonimir Ivcic. Brad Underwood also landed former Arizona guard Kylen Boswell and Notre Dame forward Kerry Booth through the transfer portal to compete in the new-look Big Ten.

5. vs. Auburn (ACC/SEC Challenge)

When: December 4, 2024 | Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium (Durham, North Carolina)

The ACC/SEC Challenge will be a fun contest, and one of the top contests on the slate is a matchup between Duke and Auburn at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Tigers exited the NCAA Tournament early with a loss to Yale. Bruce Pearl and company are looking to make a splash in the new-look SEC after adding Georgia Tech forward Miles Kelly and Furman standout JP Pegues via the transfer portal. More reason for optimism: Auburn brought back All-American candidate Johnny Broome and added top-30 freshman Tahad Pettiford to the program. Playing in front of the Cameron Crazies should test Auburn ahead of SEC play.

Duke 2024-25 Nonconference Schedule