Sean Miller isn’t trying to hide what Texas is doing with its non-conference schedule, and he’s not apologizing for it either.
While Duke has built its recent seasons around a brutal early slate, Texas is taking a different road for 2026-27. The Longhorns will still see quality opponents - Baylor, Georgetown, Louisville, Miami, and either Saint Mary's or UCLA - but the schedule also includes about eight buy games. That’s a much lighter load than the one Jon Scheyer keeps stacking for the Blue Devils.
Miller explained the logic on the Eye On College Basketball Podcast, and he framed it as a seeding play more than a résumé chase.
"The reason that we're playing the schedule that we're playing is, I will not lose a seed line playing that schedule," Miller said. "That's one thing that I will guarantee you.
I'm going deep into the analytics, and when I go through the 31 games, 32 games. If we are a good team, the seed we're supposed to get will be there based on that schedule."
Duke has gone the opposite direction since Scheyer took over in 2022, and the 2026-27 version looks especially punishing. The Blue Devils are set to face four teams that look like legitimate Final Four threats - Michigan State, UConn, Illinois, and Florida - before the calendar flips, plus a handful of other high-major tests. It’s the kind of non-conference run that can shape a season before ACC play even starts.
And that matters for Duke in a way it doesn’t for Texas. The Blue Devils have had to lean on their non-conference work because the ACC hasn’t given them the same weekly heavyweight fights that Texas will get in the SEC.
Over the last two seasons, Duke has gone 36-2 in ACC play and won both the regular-season and tournament titles, but those early marquee wins still mattered when the NCAA Tournament committee set the bracket. Duke earned the No. 1 overall seed last season, and its non-conference profile was a huge part of that case.
Texas, meanwhile, is betting that the SEC will do a lot of the heavy lifting later. That’s the tradeoff with Miller’s approach: fewer landmines before January, then a conference schedule loaded with chances for signature wins.
The risk is obvious too. If the Longhorns take some hits in league play, those buy games won’t carry much weight when Selection Sunday arrives.
So both schools are making sense in their own way. Duke is trying to build a monster résumé early and stay ready for a conference slate that should be better than it has been. Texas is choosing a softer non-conference path and trusting the SEC to supply the big moments that matter most.
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Kansas Freshman Is Already Trying To Set The Tone Against Duke
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Kansas will bring plenty of intrigue into that meeting, especially with highly rated freshman Tyran Stokes arriving as the kind of player who can change the tone of a game before the season even starts. With the Jayhawks also dealing with significant roster turnover, the exhibition offers an early measuring stick for both programs, and a reminder that these preseason dates can feel a lot more serious than the label suggests. [Read more 🡒]