First came Wake Forest in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, followed by Maryland and St. John's in the BB&T Classic.
Now that the Demon Deacons, Terrapins and Red Storm are all done preying on the Wolverines, it is the Blue Devils' turn.
This Saturday at 9 p.m. when the Michigan Wolverines (2-4) come to Durham to face Duke (8-0), it will make the Blue Devils the fourth straight ranked opponent the unranked Wolverines will have played.
And people thought Illinois had a tough schedule.
The season has not begun the way the Wolverines and coach Brian Ellerbe had planned. Aside from losing in an exhibition game to the same CBA All-Star team the Blue Devils smoked, the Wolverines then proceeded to fall to Oakland, a program getting used to Division I play. Those games were followed by wins over Western Michigan and Wagner, and, of course, losses to the No. 12 Demon Deacons, No. 13 Terrapins and No. 19 Red Storm.
"We play at the highest level, so we're going to play big-time people," Ellerbe said. "Wake Forest is probably the most mature and experienced team in the country. Maryland possibly has the No. 1 draft pick in the NBA draft next year. St. John's is always going to be good. You
While Michigan does not pose too much of an overall threat for the Blue Devils, they do have some weapons for Duke to contend with. For starters, there is former McDonald's All-America standout LaVell Blanchard. Blanchard, a frequent double-double man, recently hit the 500-point mark for his career as only a sophomore As the Wolverines' only pure offensive weapon, however, Blanchard is the easy target of many a defense.
"The opponent's locker room is going to have his name written all over the board before tipoff," Ellerbe said. "He understands that, but he's the kind of kid who relishes those types of opportunities. I think he's eager to find out as much as anyone else about how good he can be."
Along with Blanchard, Duke will have to deal with two Wolverine big men who pose potential threats. Carlos Boozer, Casey Sanders and Matt Christensen will have to face 6-foot-11 senior Josh Asselin, who averaged 8.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game last year. After Asselin comes 7-2, 300-pound center Josh Moore, the Wolverines' most talked about freshman at the beginning of the season.
Duke, on the other hand, will try to control the tempo of the game early and hopefully get much needed experience for Sanders and Nick Horvath. If the Blue Devils can turn the contest into a track meet, they should not only wear out the Wolverines, but also overcome any Michigan height advantage.
However, Duke knows after Tuesday's experience with Davidson that it cannot take a win over the Wolverines for granted. Michigan upset a No. 1 Duke team as recently as 1997, and after losing three straight games this year, Ellerbe's squad will be out for blood.
"Michigan will be really good for us," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "They're big, and some teams when they play you, everyone expects them to lose-they play looser against you and then they find they might be in a position to win. We have to be careful. We can't think that [because] teams come in with a losing record that [they] are going to lay down and die cause they're not."
Ellerbe is also aware of this, and doesn't mind his role as underdog.
"Just like everyone else, people have to prepare for us, too. "
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