138 years of Duke football. 138 teams in FBS. The math may definitely be in the Duke Blue Devils' favor to have played just about every single one of them. Unfortunately, that is not the case... While Duke has nearly crawled back to a .500 record all time in recent years at 555-565-31, it still largely operates like a basketball school when it comes to scheduling. Nina King has to do better with this...
Duke has nine ACC championships as a program, including its first in the 21st century last season. While the Blue Devils only have a 9-9 record in bowl games, they have been playing football for a long time. Assuming an asteroid the size of the Yucatan Peninsula does not come crashing out of the sky in the next 100 years, maybe they can play everyone in FBS? Not so fast. They have played 68 of 138.
To start this off with a bang, let's see who the Blue Devils still have not faced across the Power Four.
Power Four programs the Duke Blue Devils have never played before
According to Winsipedia, here are the 16 Power Four teams Duke has never faced in college football.
- Arizona Wildcats
- BYU Cougars
- Colorado Buffaloes
- Houston Cougars
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- Iowa State Cyclones
- Kansas State Wildcats
- Michigan State Spartans
- Minnesota Golden Gophers
- Mississippi State Bulldogs
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Oregon Ducks
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- TCU Horned Frogs
- Texas Longhorns
- Utah Utes
Of the 16 teams competing at this level of designation, Duke has not played nine teams from the Big 12 (Arizona, BYU, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Utah), five out of the Big Ten (Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Oregon, Penn State), and two hailing from the SEC (Mississippi State, Texas). Some of these make sense, while others just signify scheduling laziness.
If we were to pick three that jump off the page as shockers that Duke has never played before, Arizona and Michigan State quickly come to mind, given their rich basketball histories, as well as Mississippi State for a different reason. Duke has played everybody else who has been in the SEC for a minute but those Bulldogs. It is not like they have the greatest football history themselves either.
And if you think having 16 Power Four teams left to play once is bad, the Group of Six is way worse.
Group of Six programs the Duke Blue Devils have never played before
As for the Group of Six, Duke has not played hardly any of the 70 teams competing at this FBS level.
- Air Force Falcons
- Akron Zips
- Appalachian State Mountaineers
- Arkansas State Red Wolves
- Ball State Cardinals
- Boise State Broncos
- Bowling Green Falcons
- Buffalo Bulls
- Central Michigan Chippewas
- Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
- Colorado State Rams
- Delaware Blue Hens
- Eastern Michigan Eagles
- Florida Atlantic Owls
- Fresno State Bulldogs
- Georgia Southern Eagles
- Georgia State Panthers
- Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
- Jacksonville State Gamecocks
- Kennesaw State Owls
- Kent State Golden Flashes
- Liberty Flames
- Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
- Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
- Marshall Thundering Herd
- Missouri State Bears
- Nevada Wolf Pack
- New Mexico Lobos
- New Mexico State Aggies
- North Dakota State Bison
- North Texas Mean Green
- Old Dominion Monarchs
- Sacramento State Hornets
- Sam Houston Bearkats
- San Diego State Aztecs
- San Jose State Spartans
- South Alabama Jaguars
- South Florida Bulls
- Southern Miss Golden Eagles
- Texas State Bobcats
- Toledo Rockets
- Tulsa Golden Hurricane
- UAB Blazers
- ULM Warhawks
- UMass Minutemen
- UNLV Rebels
- Utah State Aggies
- UTEP Miners
- UTSA Roadrunners
- Washington State Cougars
- Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
- Western Michigan Broncos
- Wyoming Cowboys
In fact, Duke has played only 16 programs that compete out of the Group of Six at this level of FBS.
- Army Black Knights
- Charlotte 49ers
- East Carolina Pirates
- Florida International Panthers
- James Madison Dukes
- Memphis Tigers
- Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
- Navy Midshipmen
- Northern Illinois Huskies
- Ohio Bobcats
- Oregon State Beavers
- Rice Owls
- Temple Owls
- Troy Trojans
- Tulane Green Wave
- UConn Huskies
This could be explained by the fact that Duke rarely goes to bowl games. If they were to be a more regular participant in holiday season bowls, some of these names would be crossed off the list. If there are three Group of Six opponents Duke needs to get on the schedule at some point, it might as well be Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, and Old Dominion. All three of them hail from the region.
Let's also not overlook the only team with any Mountain West ties Duke has played is Northern Illinois.
Who are the next most likely programs to get crossed off Duke's list?
At this time, the only team that is on the docket to get crossed off for Duke is TCU. They will be taking on the Horned Frogs in a home-and-home beginning in 2028. The 2028 game will be at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, while the 2029 meeting will be at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth. Despite that series having been scheduled for nearly a decade dating back to 2017, it might not even happen.
TCU has always played a nine-game conference schedule since joining the Big 12 in 2012. Duke and the rest of the ACC will be getting to nine games in short order. If you were to look at Duke's future non-conference opponents, it is a lot of Notre Dame, Rice, and UConn... The Blue Devils really do not like to venture out of their comfort zone very much in the college football side of the sports equation.
Overall, Duke's all-time winning percentage in football of .496 is not that far off from the percentage of teams the Blue Devils have played currently playing at the FBS level at .493. We are talking about three-tenths of a percentage difference between the two. Unbelievable stuff! So instead of playing Rice, Temple and UConn all the time, who about playing somebody who has never been to Durham?
There are only three sides to a triangle, but Duke is simply not covering enough territory in football.
Add us as a preferred source on Google