The ACC has released the 2008-2009 college basketball schedule. Now we can start getting our markers out and circling some dates.
Here is the first dates for marking: UNC at Duke on February 11th ... Duke at UNC on March 8th.
North Carolina: UNC has a tough schedule ... with Kentucky as their second game of the season, the loaded Maui Invitational ... and a game against Michigan State at Ford Field. Penn, Oral Roberts, Rutgers and Nevada aren't pushovers. There is also a rematch against UNC-Asheville, also known as the "game Tyler Hansbrough dunked on a 7'7 guy"
Duke: Coach K won't have Kobe, LeBron or D-Wade ... but he won't be seeing Spain or Argentina, either. They will play Xavier in East Rutherford right before Christmas and host Georgetown in the middle of January. Duke will also play a true road game (that isn't in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge) when they take on Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Miami: The Canes will play in the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. They will get Ohio State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge ... which looks like a great football contest a few years ago. Miami will also visit Kentucky and St. John's.
Clemson: They'll play in the Palmetto Classic in Charleston, SC. They'll also go up the road to UNC-Charlotte to try to avenge a loss from last year. They will play at Illinois and South Carolina ... then host Alabama (by the way: Clemson hosts Alabama's football team this Saturday).
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NC State: The Wolfpack head to Charlotte to take on Davidson. Uh-oh! NC State gets some national TV love with a road game at Florida on January 3rd. They also host Marquette. The Wolfpack will actually host two games at good ol' Reynolds Coliseum.
Florida State: They'll face Cincinnati in the opening round of the Las Vegas Tournament. The Noles will host Pittsburgh in late December. Their annual date with Florida will take place on December 2nd.
Virginia: The Cavs are bringing it a bit. They'll host Xavier and Auburn ... and travel to Minnesota and Syracuse.
Maryland: Yawn! They do open with Bucknell and then play in the Old Spice Classic.
Wake Forest: The Deacs breakout season takes them on a tour of the state (NC Central, UNC-Wilmington, Winston-Salem State) before heading off to the Anaheim Classic.
Virginia Tech: Hey! Not fair! The Hokies will play in both the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic and the Holiday Festival in New York. Indiana and Bucknell will be decent battles ... as will traveling to BYU.
Boston College: They will be in the preseason NIT before hosting Iowa in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Other than a game at UMass, there really isn't much on the non-con schedule worth a second glance.
Georgia Tech: Tech will spend some time on the west coast as they'll visit USC and Pepperdine. The Jackets will revisit their SEC roots as they have a roadie at Alabama ... and will host Georgia and Vanderbilt.
