Duke University avoided paying the University of Louisville $450,000 for opting out of three football games, but the school had to trash itself to do it.

Duke's lawyers argued that the Blue Devils football team, 13-90 since 1999, was so bad any Division I team could have replaced them on the Cardinals' schedule.

On Thursday, Louisville's breach of contract suit, filed in Franklin County (Ky.) Circuit Court, was dismissed because Judge Phillip J. Shepherd found the argument used by Duke lawyers too compelling.

According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, the judge stated in his summary:

"At oral argument, Duke (with a candor perhaps more attributable to good legal strategy than to institutional modesty) persuasively asserted that this is a threshold that could not be any lower. Duke's argument on this point cannot be reasonably disputed by Louisville."

Louisville was unhappy with the result. Duke was not.

"We're disappointed with the ruling," Louisville spokesman Kenny Klein said. "We will take our time to review the decision and explore our future options."

Duke associate director of athletics/communication Jon Jackson said in a statement, "We are pleased that the court agreed with Duke's legal position in this case and now consider the matter closed."

The contract set up football games for 2002, 2007, 2008 and 2009. A penalty of $150,000 per game would be assessed if a date with a "team of similar stature" could not be scheduled.

Duke lost the 2002 game 40-3 in Durham before canceling the remaining three.