Duke Basketball has added another non-conference game to the 2025-26 slate, welcoming one of the oldest programs in the country to Cameron Indoor Stadium in early November.
According to college basketball analyst Rocco Miller, the Blue Devils will host Indiana State on November 14th, marking the first time Duke and the Sycamores will have faced off despite each program owning a long history.
ISU finished last season 14-18 overall and 8-12 in the Missouri Valley Conference before losing in the first round of the league’s tournament to Southern Illinois.
Neither school has yet to confirm the report.
Other confirmed early season games for Jon Scheyer’s fourth season at the helm of the Duke program include high major match-ups with Michigan State, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, and Michigan. The Blue Devils will also travel to West Point to play Army on Veterans Day, November 11th.
Yet another non-conference game will take place in the ACC-SEC Challenge where Duke could face off against Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, or Tennessee after hosting Auburn last season.
Earlier this week the Atlantic Coast Conference elected to reduce the conference schedule from 20 games to 18 after the league cited a continued strategic assessment, during which the conference office collaborated with athletics directors, coaches, external consultants and television partners. This included working with multiple experts to conduct statistical analysis to examine the conference’s basketball product, metrics and scheduling.
“As a league, we have been transparent about the importance of ACC Men’s Basketball and specifically our commitment to ensuring it is best positioned for the future,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. “Moving to an 18-game conference schedule is a direct result of our ongoing strategic review and analysis and provides our schools a better balance of non-conference and conference games, while also allowing them more autonomy in the scheduling process. This decision reflects our on-going prioritization to do what’s best for ACC Men’s Basketball, and we appreciate the thoughtfulness of our membership and the support from our television partners.”
Last season the Atlantic Coast Conference landed just four teams in the 68 team NCAA Tournament with most bracket analysts citing the league’s poor showing against other high major opponents throughout the season.
The 18-game schedule features teams starting league play in late December and ending on the first Saturday of March. Each team will play one primary partner both home and away as well as one variable partner home and away. The variable partner will be determined each season. Teams will play one game, home or away, against 14 of the remaining 15 teams annually.
Duke’s primary partner will be, unsurprisingly, North Carolina as the teams look to renew college basketball’s most storied rivalry again this year. The Blue Devils won three games against the Tar Heels last season by a combined 33 points, including the final match-up in the ACC semifinal round when Duke was without National Player of The Year Cooper Flagg and top post reserve, Maliq Brown due to injuries.
When the season tips off this fall, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer will be looking to build on his record setting start as a head coach. During his first three seasons, Scheyer now shares the record for most wins by a Division I head coach in their first three seasons, joining Brad Stevens (Butler) and Brad Underwood (Stephen F. Austin).
He also became the youngest head coach to reach the Final Four since 2011, and this season was honored with the 2024-25 John McLendon National Coach of the Year Award.
