5 Best Games Left On Duke's Schedule

Before we unveil our lists of Top 10 Games of the Year and Sportsman of the Year, we decided it would be in good form to create a list of the five basketball games any Duke fan should be looking forward to. In order to pare the list down, we had to leave some marquee games off--at North Carolina or home against Miami, anyone?--so feel free to tell us where we're wrong or offer your list in the comments section below.

5. Georgetown, Jan. 17: When the Hoyas last came to town in December 2006, freshmen camped out three nights before and the line for tickets wrapped around Ambler Tennis Stadium across Towerview Drive. The thirst for tickets won't be that intense this time for scheduling reasons, but not because No. 19 Georgetown isn't worthy of attention. Any team that can run the Princeton offense with athletes of more than Ivy League caliber is dangerous, and the timing doesn't help, either. The game is sandwiched between two ACC games, but this one is far from a non-conference snoozer. It also gives the ACC an opportunity to gain some bragging rights over the Big East, which could pay dividends in NCAA Tournament seeding.t

4. Xavier, Dec. 20 at Izod Center: It's the Sweet 16 matchup that everyone anticipated but never came to be. No. 2 Duke vs. No. 3 Xavier with a game against top-seeded UCLA on the line. And then Duke lost to West Virginia in the second round of the NCAA Tournament after narrowly squeaking psat Belmont, and the Blue Devils were relegated to watching the Musketeers on television. They will finally get their contest with Xavier on a neutral floor at Izod Arena in the Meadowlands, where Duke always draws well. It will help, too, that the Musketeers, who started the season outside the top 25, are up to No. 10 in the country. If both teams win until then, Duke will have another top-10 matchup on its resume. And remember the last time Duke played a top-10 team in the Meadowlands? Texas fans haven't forgotten, and neither have their heinous black jerseys.

3. Davidson, Jan. 7: Is Davidson one of the five best teams Duke still has to play? Probably not, unless it's March. Is Stephen Curry the best player Duke still has to guard? It's either him or Tyler Hansbrough, and with every 30-point outburst, the edge is creeping more toward the Wildcat sharpshooter. Forget about the All-Americans from Duke, UNC, Wake Forest or N.C. State. Curry might be the best player in North Carolina, and he's certainly the most exciting. Curry averages 30.8 points per game, and if you discount a Nov. 25 game against Loyola in which he sat in the corner and didn't score, that mark is up to 35.1. He only scored 20 against the Blue Devils in Duke's win last year, but that was before LeBron James' presence had meant Curry was the next big thing in basketball. He could provide one of the most memorable performances Cameron Indoor Stadium has ever seen--and if I were a Cameron Crazie, I would be more pumped for this game than every other home game but one.

2. at Wake Forest, Jan. 28:Shhh. Quiet. Don't look, but the Demon Deacons are inching closer and closer toward the ACC's elite this year, and the trend will probably continue over the next few seasons given Dino Gaudio's dynamite freshman class. Wake's two leading scorers, Jeff Teague and James Johnson, are both sophomores, and the third-leading scorer is freshman Al-Farouq Aminu, a 6-foot-9 beast of a forward. The memory of Duke's last game in Winston-Salem, an 86-73 loss last February, might be fresh in the Blue Devils' minds. The loss was, at the time, shocking. Duke was up to No. 2 in the rankings, had beaten North Carolina just 11 days before and was simply waiting to assume the top position in the polls. Instead, the loss represented the beginning of the end. Another defeat at Miami followed, and the season spiraled out of control, ending in a 6-5 record in Duke's last 11 games and another early exit in the Tournament. The Blue Devils want to make a statement at Wake this year--just not the same one they did last season.

1. North Carolina, Feb. 11: Is an explanation really necessary?