Whatever fears of a down year in Durham there may have been after the departure of head coach Mike Elko to College Station, and the arrival of former Miami coach Manny Diaz, have faded fast. The Blue Devils are 7-3 overall, 3-3 in ACC play, and have clinched bowl eligibility, so fans and North Carolina sportsbooks customers will have one extra Blue Devils game to enjoy.
After Saturdayās 29-19 triumph over fellow Triangle program North Carolina State, Diaz and the Devils have leapt past the teamās preseason win total over/under of 5.5 victories. Duke is returning to a bowl game for a third consecutive season.
BetCarolina.com has been keeping tabs on Dukeās bowl game odds, with this weekās update including potential stops in Orlando, Charlotte, The Bronx, Jacksonville and San Diego. Check out BetCarolina.com for the best North Carolina sportsbook promo codes too.
Bowl | Location | Conference Opponent | Odds | Percentage Chance |
Pop-Tarts Bowl | Orlando, FL | vs. Big 12 | +300 | 25.0% |
Dukeās Mayo Bowl | Charlotte, NC | vs. Big Ten | +325 | 23.5% |
Pinstripe Bowl | Bronx, NY | vs. Big Ten | +450 | 18.2% |
Gator Bowl | Jacksonville, FL | vs. SEC | +900 | 10.0% |
Holiday Bowl | San Diego, CA | vs. previous Pac 12 | +900 | 10.0% |
The Field | +1250 | 7.4% |
Dating to the 2015 Pinstripe Bowl, Duke has won five consecutive bowl games. Since then Duke has won the Quick Lane, Independence, Military and Birmingham bowls, under head coaches David Cutcliffe and Elko. Diaz looks to carry the mantle this season and weāll have Duke Blue Devils football odds for you wherever the team goes.
For now, the Blue Devils look to add an eighth win when they host 5-5 Virginia Tech at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday in the penultimate game of the regular season. Duke closes on Nov. 30 with a visit to in-state rival Wake Forest as the Durham school looks to sweep the other three North Carolina teams in the ACC for the first time since 2013.
Oddsmakers from bet365 Sportsbook North Carolina list Diazās team as three-point home underdogs on Saturday against the Hokies.
Our top pick for Duke this bowl season is Orlandoās Pop-Tarts Bowl, which pits teams from the Big 12 and ACC against one another at Camping World Stadium. We give that scenario +300 odds ā as a reminder, these odds are exclusive to BetCarolina.com, but NC sports betting apps will have plenty of wagers available for bowl season.
A short trip to Charlotteās Dukeās Mayo Bowl (+325) is next on our board, followed by the Pinstripe Bowl in The Bronx (+450), Jacksonvilleās Gator Bowl and San Diegoās Holiday Bowl (+900 each).
Duke has never played a bowl game in Orlando. Trips to Tampaās Hall of Fame Bowl under head coach Fred Goldsmith in 1994 and Miamiās Orange Bowl under Bill Murrayās watch in 1954 and 1957 are the Blue Devilsā only trips to the Sunshine State.
The Blue Devils last played in Charlotteās bowl in 2012, when the game was known as the Belk Bowl. Cutcliffeās squad lost 48-34 against Cincinnati to wrap up a 6-7 campaign in Durham. The ACC stalwart has never played in either the Gator or Holiday bowls.
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 David Cutcliffe called it quits as coach. The program went 10-22 from 2019-21 and missed out on the bowl season all three years to end the veteran coachās tenure.
Before that, Cutcliffe led Duke to a bowl game in six of the previous seven seasons. Those trips included the Independence Bowl in 2018, 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.
That stretch ended a long drought in Durham. Before that Belk Bowl bid, Duke hadnāt gone to a postseason game since the 1994 Hall of Fame Bowl, in Fred Goldsmithās first season as coach. That was 17 seasons of football without a postseason game for the Blue Devils.
Now that Diaz has extended Dukeās current postseason streak to three seasons, Blue Devils fans can only hope the teamās recent run of good fortune will roll forward when the Durham university closes out the regular season. BetCarolina.comās college football betting guide will steer you through bowl season.
For the current 2024-25 college football season, we project Duke to play in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, with the odds at +300 (a 25.0% implied probability).
The Blue Devils are bowl eligible, but we donāt know where theyāll play 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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