On a day filled with injury news and preseason accolades, the Blue Devils made another announcement Wednesday evening—this one about their future nonconference schedule.
Duke will return to the premier early-season nonconference tournament in 2018 when it travels to the Maui Invitational. The Blue Devils have won the event in each of their previous five appearances—the most recent of which came in 2011—and will be joined by Arizona, Auburn, Gonzaga, Illinois, Iowa State, San Diego State and Xavier in the field.
Tournament host Chaminade normally competes in the main event, but starting in 2018 will only play in opening-round games that are not part of the final eight-team bracket in alternate years.
Duke owns the record with five Maui Invitational titles, and will once again face a daunting nonconference slate in 2018 with a Champions Classic date with Kentucky.
The Blue Devils are playing in the Hall-of-Fame Tipoff Classic as their nonconference tournament around Thanksgiving this year, and next year will travel to Oregon for the prestigious PK80 event honoring Nike co-founder Phil Knight. Duke typically plays in a tournament around Thanksgiving in addition to its annual Champions Classic and Big Ten/ACC Challenge tilts.
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