So much for a light schedule.
After years of lamenting being unable to schedule top 25 teams, head coach Rick Majerus has delivered big.
The 2010 NCAA national champion Duke has agreed to host the Saint Louis University Billikens on Sat., Dec. 11. The game, played at legendary Cameron Indoor Stadium, is expected to be nationally broadcasted on CBS.
“In our continuing attempt to upgrade the schedule, we are playing the biggest brand name in college basketball, in perhaps college basketball’s most storied setting,” Majerus said in a statement.
“I [believe] unequivocally that Mike Krzyzewski [is] the best coach in the game. It will be a real challenge to face that Duke juggernaut. This should help us prepare for a difficult Atlantic 10 Conference season.
Majerus continued, “There is no tougher road test in the game today than to play the Blue Devils under Coach Krzyzewski at Cameron Indoor Stadium.”
SLU and the Blue Devils have played three times, and Duke has prevailed on each occasion. The last SLU-Duke meeting was Jan. 14, 1988, when the Blue Devils posted a 69-53 victory.
The game will mark the first time since the 1980-81 season that the Billikens have played the defending national champions. SLU faced Louisville Feb. 25, 1981, after the Cardinals won the 1980 NCAA title.
The square-off will also be a battle of the coaches. Many sports analysts believe both Coach “K” and Majerus will be entered into the NCAA Hall of Fame.
The two coaches have combined to win 1,347 games; Majerus has nabbed 479 victories, and Blue Devil mentor Mike Krzyzewski leads all active coaches with 868.
While the prospect of featuring a national champion can seem daunting, senior and team co-captain Paul Ecklere says he’s felt “a degree of excitement” he’s never felt upon hearing the Billikens would be headed to North Carolina.
“It’s going to be the best team I’ve ever played,” Eckerle added. “I’m really excited for the opportunity to play them, to play at Cameron Indoor, and measure how good of a team we are against how we compete with them.”
Having the national champions on the schedule, along with the opportunity to be on CBS nationally, gives SLU a chance to promote itself as an up-and-coming program.
Eckerle admitted that the game has a “big effect on how people perceive [us], and give us some element of credibility and notoriety.”
But he was quick to counter that, to the Billikens, it’s just another game. “We know how good we are and how good we can be,” he said. “And at the end of the day, we’re the ones putting in the work.
“As long as Duke doesn’t count for more than one win, the nuts and bolts of the program don’t change.
“We’re going to approach the season as if we weren’t playing them,” Eckerle added.
