Dusty May and Michigan basketball will add a marquee opponent to their non-conference schedule as they finalize a neutral-site game against Duke.
The Wolverines and Blue Devils will meet at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. next February, according to a report from college basketball insider Jon Rothstein.
“Duke and Michigan are finalizing an agreement to play a neutral site game at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. in February of 2026, multiple sources told College Hoops Today,” Rothstein wrote. Further details, including the date of the contest, will be announced at a future time.
Though such a late non-conference game is unusual in high-major college basketball, Duke faced Illinois at Madison Square Garden last February.
“The idea came up of doing it in February,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said on an ACC coaches’ call, per the Fayetteville Observer. “The more I talked about it, the more I liked the concept of getting a neutral game late in the year against a different opponent to get outside of the bubble that we’re in in ACC play.”
Added Brad Underwood: “I always look at it as an NCAA Tournament vibe, away from monotony of league play, different attitude, different opponent. We’re never going to shy away from playing really good people.”
Capital One Arena will host the East Regional in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
In addition to facing Duke and the Big Ten schedule, Michigan has the following games set for Dusty May’s second season in Ann Arbor:
- The Players Era Festival: The Wolverines will play three games over Thanksgiving week in Las Vegas. The tournament awards NIL money to winners. Opponents and schedule are still TBD.
- At TCU: Michigan will travel to Fort Worth, Texas, for the return game of a home-and-home series against the Horned Frogs. U-M won at the Crisler Center last fall.
- Wake Forest: Michigan will host Wake Forest in Detroit in the return game of a two-game series. The Wolverines lost to the Demon Deacons at a semi-away venue last fall.
Last fall, Dusty May discussed the importance of neutral-court non-conference scheduling for Michigan’s postseason aspirations.
“It felt like an NCAA tournament game. You’re in a big arena with a different backdrop. The lighting is different. You’re playing a really good team,” May said. “That was like a tournament game where you’re at a venue where the other team brought a lot more fans than you. It just had a different feel, a different type of energy. It’s on national television. All those things are great.”
The Wolverines have lost their last three against Duke, most recently in December 2013. They last beat the Blue Devils in December 2008, when 28 points from DeShawn Sims, 17 from Manny Harris and 14 from Zack Novak sparked an 81-73 upset over the No. 4-ranked visitors at the Crisler Center. Jon Scheyer paced Duke with 16 points that night.
