September 5 – vs. Middle Tennessee

September 12 – vs. Elon

September 17 – vs. Charlotte

September 26 – at Pittsburgh

October 3 – vs. Wake Forest

October 10 – at NCSU

October 17 – vs. UNC

October 24 – open (win the bye week!)

October 31 – at Notre Dame

November 7 – at Georgia Tech

November 13 – vs. UVA

November 21 – vs. Virginia Tech

November 28 – at Miami

Duke plays seven home games, gets one bye week and has all of its Carolina games in October. That could be a rough stretch. The end of the schedule also looks rough as Duke will have to battle three teams that went to bowls last year. Duke has a real shot to start well, but then things will get rough. Pitt, Wake and UNC will all present challenges. Notre Dame will coast to a second straight win against Duke. If Duke can start well, finish well and hover around .500 during the middle of the season, the Blue Devils may get back to a bowl game.

We previously predicted 7-5 this season with the caveat that 5-7 wouldn’t be a surprise. I’m standing by that after looking at the schedule. In fact, I’m trending closer to 5-7 now. I hope I’m wrong and that the Blue Devils turn things around and get back to winning games this year.

Keep those fingers crossed!