It’s official! Duke will play UCF in the Military Bowl at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on December 28 at 2pm. The Blue Devils are back in a bowl game for the first time since 2018. Coach Elko is the first Duke head coach to take the Blue Devils to a bowl since Fred Goldsmith did it way back in 1994. With a win, he would be the first head coach to win nine games in his first season since … I think anyone! I am going to check that again before the bowl, but I think he would be the first head coach to start with nine wins in a season if Duke beats UCF. Let’s all hope that happens because that would be awesome.
As a quick primer on UCF, they went 9-4 in the American Athletic Conference, finished second to Tulane in the regular season and lost to the Green Wave in the conference title game. UCF’s head coach is Gus Malzahn who had a good stretch at Auburn and is 18-8 (11-5) in two seasons at his current gig. UCF had a decent year with wins over Georgia Tech, Cincinnati and Tulane (in the regular season. They lost the rematch in the AAC Championship). They also lost to Louisville and ECU.
While some folks wanted a P5 opponent, which I get, don’t overlook UCF. This team is headed to the Big 12 next season, so you know they can compete. Regardless of the fact that this isn’t a P5 opponent, this is a good matchup and should be a fun game. Further, I don’t see the Blue Devils sleepwalking into this one. Our guys will be ready to win a bowl game.
And that’s it for the quick update. Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments, on Reddit, on Mastodon, on Post or on Twitter.
As always, Go Duke!
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