Duke Blue Devils ranking: 51/134
[Check out RJ Young’s ultimate 134 college football rankings here]
Conference ranking: 5th in Atlantic Coast (+20000 to win conference)
Teams ahead of them: Troy (50), UTSA (49), Brigham Young (48), Texas Christian (47), North Carolina (46)
Teams behind them: Fresno State (52), Georgia Tech (53), Central Florida (54), Texas State (55), Arizona State (56)
RJ’s take: Naturally, after coming off coordinating a defense in the Big Ten that led to back-to-back double-digit winning seasons and back-to-back NY6 bowl appearances, Manny Diaz decided to go back to the horse that bucked him off, also known as the ACC. He did fine at Miami the first time — 21-15 across three years with one losing season. But Duke? So far, just three men have been able to win eight games in a single season there: Duke soothsayer David Cutcliffe, the original head-ball-coach-in-charge Steve Spurrier and Mike Elko, who took his 17 wins in two seasons and turned it in as his résumé to become the head coach at Texas A&M.
The Blue Devils have a manageable schedule with Florida State at home and Miami on the road as their only preseason top 25 opponents. Maalik Murphy is one of the most physically gifted quarterbacks in the sport. If Diaz can field a defense that keeps the score down — not unlike Elko — Duke could go bowling for the third consecutive year for just the second time in its history.
Duke Blue Devils Win Total Odds: Over 5.5 (+130) Under 5.5 (-150)
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