Duke Football: Quick Lane Bowl Predictions
By Chris Brown
Duke Football will take on Northern Illinois in the 2017 Quick Lane Bowl. Who are college football analysts predicting to win the game?
Duke Football earned a postseason bid to the 2017 Quick Lane Bowl after winning their first four, losing six in a row, then winning their final two games to finish 6-6 this season. The Blue Devils will compete against Northern Illinois for the first time ever in Detroit for the bowl game. Both teams are coming off improved seasons after struggling last year. Here are various predictions from college football analysts on the outcome of the game:
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- Duke: 30 – NIU: 27 (Athlon Sports)
- Duke: 27 – NIU: 21 (Bleacher Report)
- Duke: 24 – NIU: 18 (Joe Boozell, NCAA.com)
- Duke: 22 – NIU: 25 (SB Nation)
- NIU (SportsLine simulation)
- NIU, Duke, NIU, NIU, Duke, Duke, Duke (Covers staff)
- NIU, Duke, Duke, NIU, Duke, Duke (USA Today staff)
- Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke, NIU, NIU, Duke (Sports Illustrated staff)
Most experts project the Blue Devils to come out on top, however the winner is difficult to predict and still very much up in the air. The SportsLine simulation, which automatically simulated every bowl game 10,000 times, had the least amount of confidence in this matchup between the Blue Devils and Huskies. This game was extremely close to call in the model, with Northern Illinois barely coming out on top winning 50.4% of the 10,000 simulations compared to 49.6% for Duke.
These teams are very evenly matched on paper comparing their strengths and weaknesses. I also believe the game will go back-and-forth and be close throughout. However, I expect the Blue Devils to be able to pull away in the end:
Duke 30, NIU 20
Next: Highlights From Quick Lane Bowl Coaches Press Conference
Be sure to catch Duke Football in the Quick Lane Bowl on December 26th at 5:15 pm on ESPN. We’ll be sure to provide your Blue Devil news and updates leading up to the bowl game and be on the lookout for our game reaction here on the site and in the next episode of our new podcast.