Buttcheeks McGaffigan
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How did Florida State-Rutgers end up being a match-up?
There's plenty of buzz about Gopher basketball going into the coming season.
A legit top 25 or possibly top 15 non conference team in the nation is making an appearance at the Barn. Doesn't happen that often.
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It won't help that the same will probably be a 6 PM game on ESPN2.
I don't buy this. The difference in cumulative ratings for these pairings versus Duke/Minnesota and Miami/Indiana for ESPN/ESPN2 would be negligible. It's not like they're going to rake in millions of additional ad revenue from this, especially when Duke is up 20 on IU at half time. It's ridiculous.
You honestly think money has nothing to do with it? It's an event put on by ESPN.
You honestly think money has nothing to do with it? It's an event put on by ESPN.
It is very likely that among the reasons Duke won't be playing at Minnesota, the most significant is that Krzyzewski would not allow it. Under K, and especially in recent years, Duke does not play 'true' OOC road games. At least, they don't play them against ranked teams. (Indiana will be a far less formidable opponent than Minnesota.) Look at their schedules over the last decade. You may find big OOC games at neutral sites, but very few, if any, against a tough opponent in their own gym. Krzyzewski simply doesn't do it. He also will not schedule 'home & home' contests against mid-majors. I suspect that if he could arrange it, he wouldn't play any conference games on the road, but he hasn't found an acceptable rationale for that. Yet. I doubt very seriously that ESPN arranged this for TV ratings. Finally, early in the season, Miami is going to be a tougher opponent than Duke, IMO.
Duke has played challenge games at Wisconsin (twice, once when Badgers were ranked #2), at #2 Ohio State, and at #10 Purdue. The Blue Devils haven't played a challenge game on a neutral court since 2002. In sorry, but the narrative that they would refuse to play here just doesn't fit the facts