The Duke-Michigan men’s basketball game that was headed for a baseball stadium in Miami has been called off entirely, with Duke instead arranging a Dec. 21 rematch against Texas Tech at Madison Square Garden, sources told CBS Sports.
The cancellation caps a months-long saga that began in late April, when Duke announced a multiyear deal with Amazon Prime Video to broadcast three annual neutral-site nonconference games. Michigan was slated as one of the first-season opponents, with the game set for MSG on Dec. 21. But Fox — the Big Ten’s primary media partner — objected, arguing that New York falls within the Big Ten’s territorial broadcast footprint and that Amazon lacked the rights to air a Big Ten team’s game there. Because Duke and Michigan had not yet signed a game contract when the Amazon deal was announced, Fox’s pushback carried weight.
Rather than abandon the matchup, Duke coach Jon Scheyer and then-Michigan coach Dusty May agreed to find another venue. May, who had a relationship with Marlins owner Bruce Sherman, pursued loanDepot Park at Miami — a retractable-roof baseball stadium that had never hosted a basketball game in its 14-year history. Miami sits firmly in ACC territory, which would have allowed Amazon to broadcast the game without Fox’s objection. On June 3, a source told CBS Sports the move to the Marlins’ stadium was “close to 100%” and “barring something drastic happening.”
Nineteen days later, something drastic happened. May left Michigan for the Dallas Mavericks.
With May gone and broadcast complications still unresolved, both schools decided in recent days to walk away from the game. Duke moved quickly to fill the opening, landing on Texas Tech — the same Red Raiders team that handed Duke its only loss across the first 22 games of last season, an 82-81 thriller at MSG on Dec. 20. Grant McCasland’s squad returns to the same building on the same weekend for the rematch.
Contracts are still being finalized, but all parties are on board, per CBS Sports. Duke is expected to be a preseason top-five team, while Texas Tech projects as a fringe Top 25 squad depending on the status of All-American JT Toppin, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury in February.
The Texas Tech game becomes the second in Duke’s Amazon package for 2026-27, joining an Elite Eight rematch against UConn in Las Vegas on Nov. 25 and a Gonzaga matchup in Detroit on Feb. 20. Duke’s nonconference slate also includes Michigan State in the Champions Classic in Chicago, a home game against Illinois, and Georgia at MSG for the Jimmy V Classic.
MSG will host a loaded three-day stretch leading into Christmas: the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 19 (Kansas-Ohio State and North Carolina-Kentucky), Connecticut-Virginia on Dec. 20, and Duke-Texas Tech on Dec. 21 — with the possibility that all eight teams are ranked at tip-off.
Michigan, the reigning national champions, does not yet have a replacement opponent lined up but is working on a secondary plan, a source said. The Wolverines recently signed Mike Boynton to a two-year contract and retained all but one player from last season’s roster following May’s departure.
