With the 2015-16 season in the books, more dates are being penciled in for the Blue Devils' 2016-17 slate—including plenty of neutral site contests early in the season.
Duke will face Florida in the 2016 Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York Dec. 6. In the other half of the Classic, Arizona State—coached by former Blue Devil point guard Bobby Hurley—will square off against Purdue.
Those matchups were announced by ESPN in mid-March and reported again by CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein Tuesday afternoon.
A matchup between the Gators and Blue Devils—who together have won four of the past 11 national championships—would include second-year Florida head coach Michael White, the son of Duke vice president and director of athletics Kevin White. In his first year in Gainesville, Michael White led the Gators to a 21-15 record, but Florida was just 9-9 in SEC play and lost to eventual NIT champion George Washington in the tournament quarterfinals.
Duke then travels west to Las Vegas for a December game against UNLV at T-Mobile Arena, the first time the Blue Devils and Runnin' Rebels have squared off since meeting in the Final Four in 1991.
Rothstein also reported Monday that the Blue Devils would face Penn State in the first round of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. Redshirt sophomore forward Sean Obi—a Kaduna, Nigeria, native—attended Greens Farms Academy in Westport, Conn.
Duke will play Penn State and Cincinnati will face URI in the first round of the 2016 HOF Classic at Mohegan Sun, source told @CBSSports.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 4, 2016
The Nittany Lions finished 16-16 overall last season and went 7-11 in Big Ten action. The winner of that game would advance to face either Rhode Island or Cincinnati in the championship game.
Duke is already slated to play Kansas—which earned the No. 1 overall seed in this year's NCAA tournament and lost to eventual national champion Villanova in the Elite Eight—Nov. 15 at Madison Square Garden as part of the Champion's Classic.
The Blue Devils so far appear to have four nonconference games slated for the Northeast, and one out west. With ACC contests against Virginia, Louisville, Syracuse and Notre Dame all on the road this season, the marquee matchups scheduled to take place in Durham—so far—are the home game against North Carolina and a date with Miami, which will lose much of the talent that led the Hurricanes to this year's Sweet 16.
It has yet to be announced whether Duke will go on the road or stay at home for next season's Big Ten-ACC Challenge.
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