Despite owning the nation's longest losing streak at 20 games, Duke's football program isn't shying away from taking on challenging schedules in its upcoming seasons.
This year, the Blue Devils' schedule features matchups against seven bowl teams from a season ago-including two, Wake Forest and Notre Dame, that played in BCS bowls-and an opponent winning percentage of .565. The Blue Devils will play five home games and seven road contests, highlighted by Duke's first trip to South Bend, Ind. to play Notre Dame since 1966.
Duke's difficult schedule, which does not include a game against a Division I-AA opponent for the first time since 2002, was not created by accident. Games like the one against the Fighting Irish Nov. 17, though unlikely to result in wins, are part of Duke's strategy to increase the football program's visibility nationally, which could deliver better recruiting results.
"There are a number of things you have to balance," said Chris Kennedy, senior associate athletics director. "Coaches like to go to certain parts of the country for recruiting, and you also want to get some sort of publicity."
Duke is in the midst of a multi-year stretch that includes two-game series against traditional college football powerhouse Alabama, whom the Blue Devils will play in 2010 at a neutral site to be determined, as well as like-minded academic schools Northwestern, Vanderbilt and Stanford. Negotiations for a second game against Notre Dame is underway. The athletic department is also trying to schedule games in the recruiting bed of Texas, with possible opponents including Southern Methodist and Rice.
With the team struggling to pick up victories in recent years, scheduling opponents in anticipation of winning enough to become bowl eligible can be difficult, however. Duke is trying to schedule a home-and-home series with Army for the years 2015 and 2018, Kennedy said.
"We're scheduling games for kids who are in seventh grade," Kennedy said.
Playing big games in different parts of the country helps recruiting, but it also gives a major boost to current inter
"If you go to Vanderbilt or Northwestern, you check out Nashville or Chicago," said Jack Winter, director of the Iron Dukes fundraising group. "People make a weekend out of it."
Northwestern, however, is not even the biggest game for Duke in the Chicago area. That would be Notre Dame, and the school is doing everything to promote the trip to South Bend, about 100 miles from the Second City.
The Iron Dukes are offering a travel package of a weekend hotel in Chicago and a bus ride to Notre Dame, in addition to a ticket to the game itself. About "three busloads" of people have accepted the offer so far, Winters said. Interest in the Notre Dame game has been high among Duke fans, and the Blue Devils have easily met their allotted sales number of 5,000 for the matchup.
"It's one of those games where everyone wants to go out there," Winters said.
Duke kicks off it season Sept. 1 with a 2 p.m. contest against Connecticut, which the Blue Devils lost a heartbreaker to in 2004 when they missed a field goal in the final minute. Other home games include Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Clemson and Georgia Tech, and Duke will also take trips to Virginia, Navy, Miami, Florida State and North Carolina.
After a long string of frustration, the football program is hoping an infusion of talent and ambitious scheduling will turn into more wins and increased profits.
"Any big game is certainly going to draw attention,' said Bart Smith, Duke's director of athletic promotions. "The better the schedule we're playing, hopefully that translates into more people coming to games, which will hopefully increase revenue."
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