Duke 2025 Schedule Thoughts
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<p>The ACC dropped football schedules last Monday, so here are my thoughts on the Blue Devils’ 2025 schedule. With the addition of Illinois, and the return of Tulane, to the schedule, the non-conference slate got a little tougher and a lot more interesting. Duke plucked Tulane’s quarterback in the offseason, so expect the trip to New Orleans to be an interesting one. And while having Illinois on the schedule is interesting, it’s going to be a tougher draw for the Blue Devils than the annual Nerd Bowl with Northwestern. Fortunately, Duke gets to play Illinois in Wallace Wade.</p>
<p>Interesting additions to the conference schedule include three teams that crop up during a brutal looking four game stretch from the end of September to the start of October. That stretch includes a trip to Syracuse followed by a game on the road against the Calgorithm, a drive down to Death Valley to battle the Tigers with a home game against Georgia Tech sandwiched between Cal and Clemson. Just checking my notes here to confirm that won’t be easy for the Blue Devils … And it’s confirmed. Last season, Duke had what everyone initially thought was a brutal conference schedule turn out to be not so tough when Florida State and NC State took some backward steps. Could the same scenario play itself out this season? We’ll have to wait and see.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img alt="" class="wp-image-5635" decoding="async" height="680" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 544px) 100vw, 544px" src="https://thecollegehuddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image.png" srcset="https://thecollegehuddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image.png 544w, https://thecollegehuddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image-240x300.png 240w" style="width:450px" width="544"/></figure>
<p>What about the rest of the schedule? Duke starts its conference slate with a home game against NC State and has games against UVA (home), UNC (road) and Wake Forest (home). The Blue Devils will also travel to East Hartford to play an improved UCONN team. That final non-con game comes after Clemson and before UVA, so mark that one on your calendars. That could be a challenging game for Duke.</p>
<p>All-told, this isn’t an easy schedule and it won’t be difficult for the Blue Devils to get bowl eligible. Duke lost two great receivers, Pancol and Moore, and it will be hard to see how that production is replaced this year. With games against Illinois, Syracuse, Cal and Clemson on the road, the Blue Devils will have little margin for error this season. Georgia Tech will, as always, be a tough game. If Duke wants to keep the bowl streak going, the Blue Devils will have to beat Elon, Tulane, NC State, UVA, UNC, and Wake. And, to be comfortable, Duke will have to pick off one or more of UCONN, Georgia Tech and Syracuse or Cal. Any losses by the Blue Devils in the first six games I mentioned will have to be offset against teams that will pose formidable challenges for Duke.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://thecollegehuddle.com/acc/duke/bull-city-coordinators/"><img alt="" class="wp-image-4698" decoding="async" height="300" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" src="https://thecollegehuddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/cropped-BullCityLogo-1.jpg" srcset="https://thecollegehuddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/cropped-BullCityLogo-1.jpg 300w, https://thecollegehuddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/cropped-BullCityLogo-1-150x150.jpg 150w" width="300"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Bull City Coordinators – Duke</figcaption></figure>
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