The Duke-Michigan game previously in the works to be played in Miami on Dec. 21, at the Marlins’ baseball stadium, has been called off, sources told CBS Sports.
The matchup between the two powerhouse schools was first revealed at the end of April. Initially the plan was for the teams to play at Madison Square Garden and in coordination with an innovative new three-game TV deal Duke negotiated this year with Amazon Prime Video. Complications with the Big Ten’s broadcasting deal — specifically, with that conference’s TV partners believing Amazon did not have the rights to air that game — led the schools to look elsewhere to play, since New York City falls within the Big Ten’s television footprint.
In mid-Spring, Jon Scheyer and Dusty May agreed to continue to try and make the game happen elsewhere. That led May to pursue playing the game at loanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins, due to his relationship with the Marlins’ team owner. Back on June 3 a source told CBS Sports, “The game is going to be played at the baseball stadium barring something drastic happening.” Nineteen days later, something drastic happened: May left college basketball for the NBA.
With May no longer around, and with the game still coming under dispute from broadcast television partners in the past month, Duke and Michigan decided in recent days to walk away from the game due to the ongoing complexities with pulling off the matchup under unique circumstances.
The end of July usually finds most high-major basketball teams having already filled their allotment of power-conference non-con opponents, but there are usually a handful of big programs still with a spot still open. (For example: Illinois is one such team, but the Illini and Duke already have a game on the docket for next season.) So, Scheyer found a familiar and willing opponent earlier this week: Texas Tech. The Red Raiders and Blue Devils played last season at MSG, with Grant McCasland’s group handing Duke its only loss across the first 22 games of its season, a dramatic 82-81 outcome on Dec. 20. It was one of the best games of the regular season.
And now the two will run it back this December — and in the same building. Indeed, Duke will wind up playing its week-of-Christmas matchup at Madison Square Garden after all. Sources said the contracts are still being ironed out, but all parties are on board to make the game happen in Midtown Manhattan. Duke is a lock to be a preseason top-five team, while Tech figures to be a fringe Top 25 squad before the unknown return of All-American JT Toppin, who had a season-ending ACL injury in February.
Should Duke-TTU transpire as (newly) planned, that means MSG will have a three-day run of four high-profile games in the lead-up to Christmas, with the possibility that all eight teams playing at the Garden will be ranked at the time of those games. On Saturday, Dec. 19, the CBS Sports Classic will pit Kansas vs. Ohio State and North Carolina vs. Kentucky. The next day will feature Connecticut vs. Virginia at MSG, then Duke-TTU will wrap it up that Monday night.
Duke’s game against Texas Tech will be the second in its nonconference deal with Amazon for 2026-27, joining a blockbuster Elite Eight rematch against UConn in Las Vegas (Nov. 25) and an intriguing battle against Gonzaga in Detroit (Feb. 20), which is the host city for next season’s men’s Final Four. It rounds out a robust non-league schedule for Duke, which also includes the likes of Michigan State in Chicago (Champions Classic), home vs. Illinois and facing Georgia at the Garden for the 2026 Jimmy V Classic.
As for Michigan, the Wolverines don’t have their replacement opponent locked in just yet, but a source said a secondary plan is in the works and the hope is to firm up the opening on their schedule in the days ahead. The reigning national champions recently signed Mike Boynton to a two-year contract and retained all but one player in the aftermath of May’s move the the Dallas Mavericks.
