Duke wants to be a regular postseason participant, so that's why winning the last two games of the regular season to qualify for a bowl was so vital to the Blue Devils.
Duke takes on Northern Illinois, which also missed the postseason last year, in Tuesday's Quick Lane Bowl at Detroit's Ford Field.
"It's critically important to be an annual bowl team," Cutcliffe said, with his team in a bowl for the fifth time in six years after a 2016 absence.
Cutcliffe said he's impressed with the consistency shown by the Northern Illinois football program, calling it the premier program in the Mid-American Conference for the past decade.