A comment in response to my post this morning about Duke opening ACC play tomorrow prompted me to write a very long response to the comment. So, instead of posting a ridiculously long comment, I am writing a follow-up post.

The comment seemed to be an attempt to discredit my assertion that Duke has played a good preseason schedule (as they usually do) As Featherston points out in the article referenced in the previous post, Mike Krzyzewski has said their schedule has been terrific, maybe top five. He also notes that it was #2 until they played SJSU, and then it dropped to #8.

I am, of course, well aware of who Duke has beaten this season. I’m not sure why one would think these teams are not quality teams/programs. By implication, it says that if Duke (or anyone else) is not scheduling a long list of power conference teams and/or ranked teams, then they are playing nobody. But, K regularly schedules teams that will be in the tournament or in contention in their conferences. In other words, he schedules teams that are similar to teams they may face in March, as well as several from power conferences. This is common knowledge and has been true for years. It’s also true that the teams he schedules play different styles as well, which is an effort to force his team to see different types of teams and improve their overall play.

So far, in 14 games, Duke has played 8 teams that were in the tournament last year. A few others (Temple, Holy Cross, UNCG) are often in the tournament as well. Most of those 10 schools have good, solid programs and play good basketball, even though it’s true that some of them are not in power conferences.

No power conference team is going to play ONLY ranked teams and/or power conference teams in the preseason. That would be stupid. The league play is going to be tough enough (especially in basketball conferences like the ACC or Big East), but K (and some other power conference coaches) play solid teams with good basketball traditions as much as is reasonable. Sure, there are a few San Jose State’s, but there has to be. If Duke (or anyone else) lined up Ohio State, Florida, UCLA, Kentucky, Arizona, Louisville, Connecticut, etc. in the preseason every year, they’d have nothing left for conference play. It’s the same reason Florida doesn’t play, say, Michigan, Texas and USC all in the same year in football along with their SEC schedule. They’d never be playing next Monday if they did. Neither would anyone else who scheduled like that.

As for power conference teams played, Duke has played three. However, they have also played Gonzaga as well. While Gonzaga is not in a power conference, they are perenially ranked and one of the few non-power programs that could be considered equivalent to a power conference team. So, you could say they’ve played four power teams. Among the other elites, Ohio State, Florida, UCLA and North Carolina have also only played four power conference teams (with Gonzaga also being UNC’s fourth.) So, Duke compares to other top teams in number of power teams played.

Playing a strong schedule is about playing good programs, and not a bunch of bad teams for easy wins just to pump up your win column. You get a few easy games in there, too. Some years, the teams you scheduled a few years ago are having a down year, so the schedule may not always be quite as good as it might have been when it was made. Other times it’s even better and more difficult.

Back to the SOS. As I mentioned above, Duke’s schedule is currently ranked in the top 10. I looked at several different SOS rankings and found Duke ranked from #8 to #10 as of today. It seems unlikely that, out of 300+ teams that only 7 to 9 teams are playing a strong schedule.

Since the comment also brings up Florida, allow me to compare.

• Currently, Duke has played 3 ranked teams, Florida only 2, so, not a big difference there.
• As mentioned above, Duke has played 8 (of 14 games) against teams that were in the tournament last year (that’s 57% of their games thus far.) Florida has played only half that many - 4 of 14 games (27%). That doesn’t mean they’re all exactly the same as they were in March, but most of them are of similar makeup.
• As for opponent records, Duke’s opponents thus far have a record of 117-74 (61% wins) with Florida’s opponents being 112-102 (52% wins). Duke’s opponents again appear to be better.
• According to RPIratings, Duke’s strength of schedule is #10, and Florida is #207. Other rankings showed similar numbers. If Duke’s schedule is weak, then Florida’s is simply pathetic.

But I don’t care about Florida’s schedule. I point this out only to compare Duke’s schedule to another top team, and Florida was mentioned. Florida actually played a worse preseason schedule last year and it turned out pretty good. I will say that I do not personally believe Duke is a top 10 team, certainly not right now. They could potentially grow into it, but I would agree a #3 seed is probably the best they’ll do in the end. It’s hard to say because there’s a lot of games to play yet, but I’d say they might fall into a #3 to #5, depending on how much more they grow. I would also agree that, considering their youth, they could be open to upset in the second round, or, even, the first round of the tournament. Again, it depends on their improvement over the next two months. But, the main point is this - the notion that Duke has not played anyone is just nonsense.