It's still a bit weird to think about, but Duke will be hosting the national champs, Alabama, on September 18th.
Certainly, this game wouldn't have come about without David Cutcliffe (correction: actually, we think Ted Roof scheduled it). Aside from his SEC connections, Cutcliffe has made it clear that Duke can't hope to improve without improving the schedule.
More importantly, when Alabama wanted to buy the game and move it back home for a large sum of money, Cutcliffe refused.
With more than half the team as underclassmen, Duke may be in for a long day. But under Cutcliffe, they are no longer ducking the challenge -- and it may pay off in the long run.
Duke and Alabama have a long, intertwined history in football, both having statues of Wallace Wade at their respective stadiums, although obviously, Duke has fallen off while Alabama has stayed great. Al Featherston does an excellent job of running down the history and the significance of this game in this article from go Duke.com
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