Duke complicates its path to another bowl

Duke’s path to bowl eligibility over the past four seasons was built, for the most part, on a few constants.

The Blue Devils won at least three nonconference games, beat Wake Forest in the crossover game against the ACC Atlantic Division and, most of the time, defeated Virginia from the Coastal Division.

Last year, when Duke went 7-5 in the regular season, it qualified for a bowl game despite losing to Virginia for the first time since 2011.

This year, the Blue Devils find themselves forced to achieve bowl eligibility while lacking a win over Wake Forest. That’s because Saturday’s 24-14 loss to the Demon Deacons marked the first time Duke has lost to Wake Forest since 2011.

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