Duke basketball released its 2012-2013 schedule this week, featuring 16 regular season games at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils open the season with Countdown to Craziness Oct. 19, with the regular-season opener coming after two exhibition games Nov. 9 against Georgia State.
They are scheduled to play five neutral-site contests, including the second game of the season against reigning national champion Kentucky in Atlanta. Duke will also play at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas during Thanksgiving break and a contest against Temple at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J.
The Blue Devils will not play a game at Madison Square Garden in New York City for the first time since the 2001-2002 season. While they typically play a neutral-site game in either New Jersey or New York each season, the team has played St. John’s in an away game at the World’s Most Famous Arena in the years when they have played in New Jersey.
Because league expansion will force the Blue Devils to play 18 ACC games for the first time, Duke and St. John’s have put their series on hold and thus will not play for the first time since the 1998-1999 season, said Mike Cragg, senior associate director of athletics who oversees administration of the Duke basketball program.
“We had to make some decisions on what we usually do during January through March,” Cragg said.
One of those decisions was giving the team a bye weekend in January, with no games between the Thursday Jan. 17 home contest against Georgia Tech and the Miami road game Jan. 23. Although the Blue Devils have the same number of games scheduled as last season—31—that has typically included a non-conference game on a weekend in the middle of ACC play.
Eliminating that break in play created the opportunity for the small January respite, a decision suggested by head coach Mike Krzyzewski, Cragg said.
“Because of the 18 [ACC] games, we decided let’s break up the conference schedule a little bit this year and try a little different approach instead of what can be a long, tough grind,” Cragg said. “We’ll see how that goes. We may be right. We may be wrong. Hopefully we’re right—usually most thing Coach K does are right.”
For the Cameron Crazies, Duke hosts the first of its two matches against University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Wednesday Feb. 13. The Blue Devils also host a marquee early-season matchup Nov. 28 against Ohio State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Duke played the Buckeyes last year in the same event, falling on the road 85-63.
In the Battle 4 Atlantis, Duke will play Minnesota in the first round, with a second-round matchup against Memphis or Virginia Commonwealth. In the final round, Duke will have the chance to play one of Louisville, Stanford, Missouri or Northern Iowa. All 31 of the team’s games will be televised, 22 of which will be on one of the ESPN channels.
“We are fortunate to be in the spotlight of college basketball and at the highest level,” Cragg said. “Kids do want to play in those events and on television. It’s great for our school to have that exposure. Year after year we have more national television games than any other program.”
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