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Report: UConn, Duke to meet at Izod Center next season

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UConn and Duke have met just nine times on the basketball court, with the Blue Devils having won five of those meetings. But what the two programs haven’t produced in quantity, it can be argued that they’ve made up for it in quality. Whether it’s the 1990 East Regional Final, the 1999 national title game or the 2004 Final Four, UConn and Duke have combined to play some highly entertaining games.

That will be the expectation when the two programs meet during the 2014-15 season, with ESPN.com’s Andy Katz reported that the game will take place “just prior to Christmas” at the Izod Center in New Jersey (it’s the Meadowlands).

Duke won the last meeting between the two teams, which occurred in the 2009 Preseason NIT title game, and they’ll begin the season as one of the favorites to win the national title. As for UConn, the status of guard Ryan Boatright and forward DeAndre Daniels will have a major impact on their chances of winning a second consecutive national title. Both are still evaluating their options in regards to the 2014 NBA Draft, with the NBA’s early entry deadline just four days away.

As for their schedules, both teams boasted solid non-conference slates even before this contest was announced.

UConn, whose non-conference slate becomes a bit more important given their belonging to the American Athletic Conference, has games against Florida (road), Stanford (road) and Texas (home) as well as a trip to San Juan to play in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. As for Duke the Blue Devils will play Michigan State in the Champions Classic, and they’ve also got games in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

And in an interesting note about this series, all nine games have been played on neutral courts.

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