Delaware–James Madison football rivalry
The rivalry between the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens and the James Madison Dukes is a now-dormant matchup between two similarly sized schools. 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, after which the multi-sports conference now known as the Coastal Athletic Association took over A-10 football, creating the technically separate entity of CAA Football to govern that sport. The two 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).
| 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) |
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.
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, and although they are in different conferences, it is possible that the rivalry could be resumed, since both will once again be in the same subdivision. On January 17, 2024, both schools announced a four game, home-and-home football series beginning in 2027 in Newark, DE.