Duke opens as big favorites against Tulane in 2026 season opener
Duke opens its 2026 college football season as heavy favorites over Tulane.
As the 2026 season opener rapidly approaches, Duke football enters with significant momentum following their 9-5 performance and ACC championship victory last year. The anticipated match-up against Tulane will be a replay of last season's contest, where Tulane emerged victorious with a 34-27 win in New Orleans. Both programs are grappling with uncertainty at their quarterback position.
Duke's Darian Mensah, instrumental in their championship run, transferred to Miami while Tulane lost their starting signal caller, Jake Retzlaff, who contributed 3,168 passing yards and 15 touchdowns. In addition, Tulane sought to replace their departing head coach Jon Sumrall, who moved on to coach at Florida, with Will Hall who had previously worked as Tulane's passing coordinator.
Despite the numerous unanswered questions, Duke holds a substantial advantage over Tulane, with current Vegas odds designating the Blue Devils as 9.5-point favorites. The highly anticipated game is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. ET at Wallace Wade Stadium, broadcast on the ACC Network.
Written by urgent.news from Yahoo Sports's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
