The women's basketball schedule is finally out, and there are several bits of
good news. First of all, Duke has a big twelve appearances on TV. The
most significant matchup will be the UConn game on January 3rd, because this
will be televised on CBS. This will be the first appearance for Duke on
that network, another milestone for the program. Duke will also make two
appearances on ESPN (against Texas and Purdue) and three on ESPN2 (vs UNC,
Tennessee and Maryland). Duke will also be on the regional Fox SportsNet
package five times and once on Fox's national coverage as part of ACC
Sunday night. For those Duke women's basketball fans who don't live in
ACC country, there will be plenty of opportunities to see the team!
The next bit of good news is that there won't be any serious overlap
with men's games this year. The first round of the Duke classic is at
3:00pm on November 29th, while the men will be playing in Alaska,
probably at something like 10:00pm. The Tulsa game on December 14th in
Cameron is at 1:00pm, while the men's team will face Portland later on at
8:00pm. The men's game on the 29th is a home game, while Duke's game is
in California and not televised. The UConn game on the 3rd of January
might overlap with the Clemson away game, but that will only affect TV
choices, not attendance (the UConn game will either be at 2 or 4, while
the Clemson game starts at 5:30). The UNC away game will be on January 11th (a
Sunday) at 1:00pm, while the men's away game with Virginia doesn't start
until 8:00pm. The men's game at Georgetown on the 24th of January is at
2:00 pm, while the big showdown with Tennessee won't start until 7:00pm.
The only game where there will be definite overall is the Maryland game
towards the end of the year. The women are scheduled to play them on the
road at 5:00 pm while the men are scheduled to play the Terps in Cameron
at 4:00pm on February 22nd. Oddly enough, both games are on TV. Again,
this won't affect attendance for the women's team. Thanks to the
schedule-makers for allowing fans of both teams to follow them with much
greater ease than in recent years.
Other odds and ends: Duke will be playing Stephen F Austin in the first
round of the Duke Classic, so they won't wind up playing both Auburn and
Creighton, which is too bad. SFA is a former small-college powerhouse in
women's hoops, but were just 15-13 last year......Duke will be playing
Hampton for the second straight year, this time in the Loyola Marymount
Classic......I don't know who the 110% Club is, but I suggest that if
their level of effort is anything less than advertised, the fans should
demand their money back.