Most of Duke's marquee non-conference games have already been announced during the last few months, but the team unveiled its entire non-conference schedule for the 2016-17 season on its Twitter account Wednesday morning.
Blue Devil fans will get their first chance to see the nation's top-ranked recruiting class in action during Duke's annual Countdown to Craziness event October 22. The Blue Devils will then play two exhibition games at home against Virginia State October 28 and defending Division II national champion Augustana November 4.
Duke will open the regular season November 11 at Cameron Indoor Stadium against Grand Canyon and will host Marist for another contest the next day. That will wrap up a busy weekend for Blue Devil sports teams in Durham after Duke plays North Carolina in a Thursday night football game in Wallace Wade Stadium November 10.
After the opening weekend, the Blue Devils will hit the road for a grueling stretch, beginning with a Champions Classic matchup at Madison Square Garden in New York. The game will feature ESPN's top three recruits in the Class of 2016 in Duke's Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum and Kansas' Josh Jackson.
The Blue Devils will start play in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic in Uncasville, Conn., against Penn State November 19 and will face off against Cincinnati or Rhode Island in the tournament November 20.
After returning home for games against William & Mary and Appalachian State during Thanksgiving break, Duke will host Michigan State November 29 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Spartan head coach Tom Izzo was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame this year, but is just 1-9 in his career against Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils. This game will present a threat to the Duke's non-conference home winning streak of 125 games dating back to 2000 if the Blue Devils avoid an upset in their first four home games of the year.
Duke have a home game against Maine December 3 before traveling to Madison Square Garden again to face Florida and head coach Mike White—the son of Duke athletic director Kevin White—in the Jimmy V Classic December 6.
The Blue Devils' last game before a nine-day break for exams will be against UNLV at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas December 10, and Duke wraps up its non-conference slate with games against Tennessee State at home and Elon in Greensboro, N.C., during the week before Christmas. The Phoenix are the only non-conference team the Blue Devils will be playing for the second straight year, as Duke came out on top 105-66 last December.
The Blue Devils' ACC schedule will likely be released in September, but Duke will play North Carolina, Wake Forest, Florida State and Miami twice each and every other team in the conference once.
Duke's 2016-17 non-conference schedule:
October 22—Countdown to Craziness (Durham)
October 28—Virginia State (exhibition, Durham)
November 4—Augustana (exhibition, Durham)
November 11—Marist (Durham)
November 12—Grand Canyon (Durham)
November 15—Kansas (New York)
November 19—Penn State (Uncasville, Conn.)
November 20—Cincinnati or Rhode Island (Uncasville, Conn.)
November 23—William & Mary (Durham)
November 26—Appalachian State (Durham)
November 29—Michigan State (Durham)
December 3—Maine (Durham)
December 6—Florida (New York)
December 10—UNLV (Las Vegas)
December 19—Tennessee State (Durham)
December 21—Elon (Greensboro, N.C.)
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