# 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.

## 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.
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. On January 17, 2024, both schools announced a four game, home-and-home football series beginning in 2027 in Newark, DE.

## 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 | 42–35$^{2OT}$ |
| 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 | 30–23$^{OT}$ |
| 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 |||||