For the second time since David Cutcliffe’s 2021 retirement, the Duke Blue Devils football team is starting anew, with Mike Elko absconding back to College Station after going 16-9 in two seasons in Durham.
Now, former Miami (Florida) head coach and Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz takes over the Blue Devils, who are on the heels of consecutive bowl game appearances for the first time since Cutcliffe reached the sport’s postseason in 2017 and 2018.
It appears that oddsmakers aren’t riding high on Duke’s chances in Year One of the Diaz era in Durham, however, with the team at FanDuel Sportsbook North Carolina giving Duke +15000 odds of winning the ACC in 2024, ranking 13th in the expanded conference.
As far as win totals are concerned, FanDuel Sportsbook pins Duke at 5.5 in 2024, with +118 odds of them winning the six games necessary to reach a bowl game this fall.
BetCarolina.com - your top source for North Carolina sports betting coverage - will update our hypothetical odds board on which bowl games we see Duke playing in during the 2024 bowl season, with this week’s inaugural list including a pair of ACC stalwarts in Boston and Annapolis.
Bowl | Location | Conference Opponent | Odds | Percentage Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Wasabi Fenway Bowl | Boston, MA | vs. American Athletic | +275 | 26.7% |
Military Bowl | Annapolis, MD | vs. American Athletic | +325 | 23.5% |
Gasparilla Bowl | Tampa, FL | vs. SEC, AAC or former PAC12 | +800 | 11.1% |
Birmingham Bowl | Birmingham, AL | vs. SEC or AAC | +800 | 11.1% |
Duke’s Mayo Bowl | Charlotte, NC | vs. Big Ten | +1000 | 9.1% |
The Field / No Bowl |
|
| +500 | 16.7% |
These odds are exclusive to BetCarolina.com's experts and will not be found on North Carolina sportsbook apps.
Right now, our crystal bowl shows the Wasabi Fenway Bowl as Duke’s top destination, with the ACC-AAC showdown that kicked off for the first time in 2022 holding +275 odds of landing the Blue Devils this bowl season.
The next closest bowl game spot for Duke in 2024 is the Military Bowl in Annapolis, which is listed at +325, while Tampa’s Gasparilla Bowl and the Birmingham Bowl in Alabama are the next closest at +800 apiece.
Longshot candidates include Charlotte’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl at +1000, while “the field” and no bowl whatsoever come in at +500 to close out the odds board to open the season for Diaz and company.
Year | Bowl | Result |
|---|---|---|
2023 | Birmingham Bowl | Win, 17-10 against Troy |
2022 | Military Bowl | Win, 30-13 against UCF |
2021 | No Bowl Game |
|
2020 | No Bowl Game |
|
2019 | No Bowl Game |
|
The relative prosperity that Elko brought back to Durham from 2022 to 2023 obscured the fact that the Blue Devils were down bad when Cutcliffe called it quits, having gone 10-22 and missing out on the bowl season entirely between 2019 and 2021.
Before that, Cutcliffe had led Duke to a bowl game in six of the previous seven seasons, taking them to the Independence Bowl in 2018, with trips to the Quick Lane Bowl in 2017, Pinstripe Bowl in 2015, Sun Bowl in 2014, Chick-fil-A Bowl in 2013 and the Belk Bowl in 2012.
Prior to that, Duke had gone bowl-less between the 1994 Hall of Fame Bowl in Fred Goldsmith’s first season with the team and Cutcliffe’s fourth season in Durham in 2011, representing 17 seasons of football without a postseason game for the Blue Devils.
Now, it’s up to Diaz to extend Duke’s streak of reaching the postseason to three seasons, with Blue Devils fans hoping the team’s recent run of good fortune wasn’t confined to the teachings of their now-former head coach.
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For the upcoming 2024-25 college football season, Duke is currently projected to play in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl in Boston vs. an American Athletic Conference team with the odds at +275 (26.7% chance).
Since it is the summer, Duke is not currently playing in a bowl game because the season has not started yet. Their most recent bowl game was in the 2023 Birmingham Bowl win against Troy.
Author
Christopher Boan is a lead writer at BetCarolina.com specializing in covering state issues. He has covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
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