How Duke basketball is giving Michigan game even more of ‘Final Four feel’

Given how dominant each team has been in the 2025-2026 college basketball season, many believe that the Duke-Michigan game on Saturday could foreshadow an eventual Final Four matchup. The Blue Devils are not taking that situation lightly and have ensured every aspect of the game is exactly as it would be in the NCAA Tournament.

Michigan is also approaching the matchup like a Final Four showdown, but Duke has taken every minor detail into consideration. The Blue Devils insisted on playing with an official Wilson basketball to give it an official NCAA Tournament-like appeal, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported.

“How serious is Duke taking this? Right down to the ball,” Thamel said on ESPN’s ‘College GameDay.’ “You see here, they’ll be using an NCAA Tournament Wilson ball in this game. Both Duke and Michigan are Nike schools — they use Nike balls at home — but Duke insisted on using this NCAA Tournament ball to replicate that experience. So this game will have a Final Four feel right down to the shooter’s fingertips.”

We have a historic day for college hoops coming. How did it No. 1 Michigan and No. 3 Duke come together? Here’s our @CollegeGameDay story. pic.twitter.com/WBnf0chn8R

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 21, 2026

Regardless of who emerges victorious on Saturday, Michigan and Duke are both trending toward securing No. 1 seeds in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines are favored to top the Midwest region, with the Blue Devils likely to secure the top seed in the East region.

Duke and Michigan meet at a neutral site at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., home of the Washington Wizards. The meeting features a scarce non-conference February matchup as part of the Edward Jones Capital Showcase.

Duke enters the matchup ranked No. 3, with Michigan ranked No. 1. The game will be the second leg of a massive double-header, following a showdown between No. 2 Houston and No. 4 Arizona, marking a rare occurrence when each of the top-four-ranked teams face off on the same day in the regular season.

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