Duke trailed Illinois by 10 in the first half last week, and its quarterback was helped off in the fourth quarter after a sack. I am laying nine and a half anyway. Duke is -110 at FanDuel, the best price on the board, with the other three books at -112 or longer.
Stanford has not won a road game since September 2024. Eleven straight losses away from home, the longest streak in program history, and the last one came at Syracuse two years ago. This is their first trip of the season, and it starts a stretch of five games in nine weeks in the Eastern time zone.
The travel is the part that compounds. Stanford crosses three time zones for a four o'clock Eastern kickoff, which is one in the afternoon on their body clock. Their pass defense ranks 137th nationally, giving up 352 yards a game through the air, and Miami ran 548 total yards past them two weeks ago in the only real test they have had.
The line has drifted toward Stanford rather than away, opening near ten and settling at nine and a half, so Duke is cheaper now than when the week began. Duke has won six straight and returns its head coach and both coordinators for a third season together.
Stanford vs Duke prediction: Duke -9.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to 8.5.
