Duke - Clemson? It Could Happen

Duke had a schedule change on Sunday night, replacing Saturday’s game against Florida State with a visit from Miami instead.

The Seminoles had a COVID outbreak that sidelined a large number of players, forcing FSU to drop out of next weekend’s date. That left the ACC scrambling to try to get as many teams through a full 10-game league schedule as possible.

David Cutcliffe dropped a bombshell in his Monday press conference, announcing that he expected Duke to play in an as-yet unannounced game on the weekend of Dec. 12, against an as-yet undisclosed opponent.

“I don’t know whether that game (against Florida State) will be played but I see us playing the next two weeks,” David Cutcliffe said, “but I’m not sure right now, I would hesitate to say an opponent. We’ve been healthy all year. We’ve been available. We’re up and ready and our team enjoys the challenges and the opportunities to play.“

When asked to clarify, Cutcliffe doubled down, saying, “We’re obviously going to play this weekend and I think we’re going to play the twelfth. I believe that.”

So, who could Duke’s mystery opponent be? Let’s take a look around the league.

Based on the current schedule of games in the ACC, 10 of the league’s 15 teams are on pace to play all 10 regular-season conference games: Notre Dame, Miami, NC State, North Carolina, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Pitt, Georgia Tech, Louisville and Syracuse. The mystery game would make Duke the eleventh of the 15 to finish the schedule.

The four remaining teams are:

Virginia: Duke has already played the Cavaliers, and Virginia is currently booked on the twelfth, against rival Virginia Tech. It’s doubtful they’d replace that game with a rematch against Duke.

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons have four league games yet to play. They’re currently scheduled to play Louisville on the twelfth. Duke lobbied to have their game with the Deacs (cancelled last week) played on the twelfth and Wake-Louisville moved to the 19th, and the league turned the Blue Devils down. It’s doubtful the ACC would reconsider and shuffle the games at this point.

Florida State: Cutcliffe didn’t rule out a game with the Seminoles on the twelfth, but he also didn’t sound like that was the opponent he was planning for.

That leaves one team, who is currently only scheduled for nine ACC games and will likely be booked on Dec. 19, in the ACC Championship Game. That means that the twelfth is the only date it could use to reach its 10 league game threshold. So, it seems likely that Duke’s next announced game will be:

The Clemson Tigers

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