The ACC released the 2014 football schedule and if you are a fan of the Duke Blue Devils it is pretty hard to argue that it isn’t favorable one.
After coming off the team’s best season in about half a century, and conceivably the best season for the program ever, (10 wins, ACC Championship Game appearance, and an appearance in the Chick-fil-A Bowl) Duke looks poised with a veteran team to make another run at 10 wins and possibly more.
Much like this past season Duke has a very navigable non-conference schedule. The Blue Devils kick off the season on August 30 when they host Elon. They will then go to Troy (Alabama) on September 6, before returning home for a two game stretch on October 13 against Kansas, and October 20 against Tulane before starting ACC play at the end of the month with a trip to Miami.
Duke could very easily be 4-0 heading into conference play where they will once again avoid Florida State and Clemson as well as incoming Louisville. In the past Duke needed to win all of its non conference games to even have a chance at bowl eligibility. Now ACC wins appear less unlikely.
The Blue Devils will have an open week before going to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech (September 11). They then host Virginia (September 18) before another open week. They will start out the month of November at Pitt (November 1), at Syracuse (November 8) come home to face Virginia Tech (November 15) and host rival North Carolina in the program’s first Thursday-night match up on November 20.
Duke closes out the 2014 regular season at home against Wake Forest on November 29.
After what the Blue Devils accomplished this season many fans are expecting big things in 2014 with a team that returns all of its key play makers on offense. They will have to replace major components of its defense as well as their offensive coordinator, so challenges are present.
The program though is clearly headed in the right direction though and it is hard to not see anywhere between 6-8 wins for sure and quite possibly more. And there should be a few people that could predict another 10-win or better season and a possible repeat as ACC Coastal Division Champs.
We will take a more in-depth look at the schedule with a game by game prediction in a few days.
