Delaware–James Madison football rivalry

The Delaware–James Madison football rivalry is the U.S. college football rivalry between the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens and the James Madison Dukes. As of the 2025 FBS season, it will be a dormant matchup between two similarly sized Division I FBS schools in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.

Delaware–James Madison football rivalry

Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens James Madison Dukes
Sport	College football
First meeting	October 29, 1983 Delaware, 26–23
Latest meeting	October 23, 2021 James Madison, 22–10
Next meeting	September 18, 2027
Statistics
Meetings total	27
All-time series	Delaware leads, 14–13
Largest victory	James Madison, 41–7 (2008)
Longest win streak	Delaware, 4 (1995–1998) James Madison, 5 (2015–present)
Current win streak	James Madison, 5 (2015–present)

150km
100miles

James Madison

Delaware

  

Locations of Delaware and James Madison

History

The rivalry became an annual affair in 1993 when the Dukes joined the football-only Yankee Conference. In 1997, the Yankee Conference was absorbed by the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10), with the rivalry continuing in that league through the 2006 season. The multi-sports conference now known as the Coastal Athletic Association took over A-10 football in 2007, creating the technically separate entity of CAA Football to govern that sport. The two universities remained conference rivals through the 2021 season, although the annual rivalry ended after the 2017 season due to changes in the CAA Football scheduling format. During this period, the teams have combined for three National Championships (Delaware in 2003; James Madison in 2004 and 2016), four National Runners-up (Delaware in 2007 and 2010; James Madison in 2017 and 2019), and 14 Conference Championships (Delaware in 1995, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2010, and 2020 and James Madison in 1999, 2004, 2008, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019).

On November 6, 2021, it was announced that the James Madison football program had accepted an invitation to move up to the FBS Subdivision and would join the Sun Belt Conference prior to the 2022 football season.^[1]

On November 27, 2023, it was announced that the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football program also had accepted an invitation to move up to the FBS Subdivision and would join the Conference USA prior to the 2025 football season.^[2] On January 17, 2024, both schools announced a four game, home-and-home football series beginning in 2027 in Newark, DE.^[3]

Game results

Delaware victories

James Madison victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 October 29, 1983 Harrisonburg, VA Delaware 26–23 2 September 8, 1984 Newark, DE Delaware 32–3 3 November 30, 1991 Newark, DE James Madison 42–352OT 4 October 9, 1993 Harrisonburg, VA James Madison 42–38 5 October 8, 1994 Newark, DE James Madison 30–10 6 October 21, 1995 Harrisonburg, VA Delaware 48–19 7 October 26, 1996 Newark, DE Delaware 27–13 8 October 18, 1997 Harrisonburg, VA Delaware 49–27 9 November 21, 1998 Newark, DE Delaware 28–14 10 September 25, 1999 Harrisonburg, VA James Madison 21–7 11 October 28, 2000 Newark, DE Delaware 33–14 12 November 3, 2001 Harrisonburg, VA Delaware 28–3 13 October 12, 2002 Newark, DE Delaware 23–10 14 November 6, 2004 Harrisonburg, VA James Madison 20–13 No. Date Location Winner Score 15 October 22, 2005 Newark, DE Delaware 34–28 16 November 4, 2006 Harrisonburg, VA James Madison 44–24 17 November 3, 2007 Newark, DE Delaware 37–34 18 November 1, 2008 Harrisonburg, VA James Madison 41–7 19 October 31, 2009 Newark, DE James Madison 20–8 20 October 2, 2010 Harrisonburg, VA Delaware 13–10 21 September 28, 2013 Newark, DE Delaware 29–22 22 September 27, 2014 Harrisonburg, VA Delaware 30–23OT 23 November 14, 2015 Newark, DE James Madison 24–21 24 October 1, 2016 Harrisonburg, VA James Madison 43–20 25 September 30, 2017 Newark, DE James Madison 20–10 26 November 24, 2018 Harrisonburg, VA James Madison 20–6 27 October 23, 2021 Newark, DE James Madison 22–10 Series: Delaware leads 14–13

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games

References

1. "James Madison to Compete in the Sun Belt Conference Beginning Fall 2022". sunbeltsports.org. February 2, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
2. "Delaware joins Conference USA as part of FBS move". ESPN. November 27, 2023. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
3. Kelley, Kevin (January 17, 2024). "Delaware, James Madison schedule four-game football series beginning in 2027". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved January 18, 2024.