Does UCF Have Enough to Beat Duke?
The UCF Knights lost their final regular season game 45-28 to Tulane but were still able to compile a solid 9-4 overall record. The challenge for this bowl game is they’ll have to overcome a lot of losses as a number of players have decided to skip this bowl.
As for the Duke Blue Devils, they had an 8-4 record this season and a nine-win season would be an impressive accomplishment on coach Mike Elko’s resume.
Taking a look at the college football odds, can the Blue Devils win and cover the field goal spread?
Let’s check the latest college football odds, stats, injury reports and college football lines for UCF vs Duke. We’ve plenty of NCAA football odds for you to consider.
UCF Loses a Lot of Talent
It hasn’t been a great last few weeks for Central Florida. The Knights lost a few of their best receivers and some of their back seven on defense.
Linebacker Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste went to Ole Miss, cornerback Davonte Brown moved to Miami, Mikey Keene went to Fresno State and wideout Ryan O’Keefe left for Boston College.
To make matters worse, if you bet online, note that quarterback John Plumlee is on his way back from a leg injury and his status is very uncertain at the moment.
Their backup quarterback for the season has hit the transfer portal, making Plumlee’s status even more important moving forward.
UCF has been able to rise up to its competition multiple times, but the significant loss of starters in a short period of time might make this too tough of a challenge to overcome.
Duke Looking to Make Some Noise
Duke isn’t usually considered a football school because the men’s basketball squad usually gets all of the attention. However, this group is starting to garner headlines.
The Blue Devils had three straight losing seasons coming into this year but that ended in 2022. A balanced offensive attack under Mike Elko has proven to be the winning strategy.
The defense will be tested against UCF, though. However, with the Knights having a patchwork roster, the task should be a bit easier for the Blue Devils.
UCF vs Duke Game Injuries
UCF vs Duke Head-to-Head
These teams haven’t met up in years, making this a rare matchup.
UCF vs Duke Game Information
- Game: UCF (9-4) Duke (8-4)
- Location: Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, MD
- Day/Time: Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2 p.m. ET
- UCF vs Duke Live Stream: ESPN
UCF vs Duke Betting Lines
UCF vs Duke Picks & Prediction
Duke is a 3½-point favorite in the sportsbook and that seems about right. Normally, there would be little faith in this squad but Elko has turned them around and UCF is missing a lot of key players.
Make sure you check in on the health of Plumlee. He likely won’t be 100% at any rate.
Overall, it just feels like Duke will be much more up for this game, so take the Blue Devils with your college football picks.
The Duke Blue Devils are listed at -170 in our Vegas lines. This means that if you wager $100 on the Duke Blue Devils, you have a chance to win $59. The UCF Knights are +148, offering a chance to win $148 on a $100 wager.
The implied probability attached to the betting lines gives the Duke Blue Devils a 62.96% chance to win, with the UCF Knights at 40.32%.
UCF vs Duke Trends
UCF vs Duke Edge
UCF vs Duke Results
UCF vs Duke Game Summary
