Would your rather:
Be in a lower ranked bowl and win
or
Be in a higher ranked bowl and lose
NOT AN OPTION: (win in a higher ranked bowl AKA "GET AN A IN AN AP CLASS")
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Would your rather:
Be in a lower ranked bowl and win
or
Be in a higher ranked bowl and lose
NOT AN OPTION: (win in a higher ranked bowl AKA "GET AN A IN AN AP CLASS")
Be in the higher ranked bowl. That means we had the more successful season overall.Quote:
Originally Posted by Skitzle
Definitely higher ranked bowl. An appearance in a higher ranked bowl means a better overall regular season and a higher national recognition overall, especially to recruits (as long as we don't get blown out).Quote:
Originally Posted by Skitzle
All in all, I 100% agree with you, but there is a certain revenge factor when it comes to Eastern Michigan...remember Earl Boykins.Quote:
Originally Posted by CameronBornAndBred
Enrollment:Quote:
Originally Posted by CameronBornAndBred
EMU - 23,419
Duke - 14,591
(This is with postgraduate students included).
Let that Eastern Michigan game go, man, 'cause it's long, long gone. If we manage to beat them in a throwaway holiday game it just won't be the same.Quote:
Originally Posted by wilson
It has been more than 50 years since Duke won a bowl. 60 years since we won a bowl by a convincing margin. Let's correct that this year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Skitzle
If I had to choose.
I think that I would split the difference. I don't want to go to a really good bowl and get embarrassed by a good SEC team that just went through the ringer in the conference. Nor do i want to play in a really weak bowl against an opponent that beating would give our program no notoriety. I think that the Cinci game last year was ideal to be honest. Two relatively evenly matched teams and Duke had a great shot at winning. I had to listen on the radio so I'm not completely sure about how the match-ups went but I know the game was close right up until the end.
If we go say 9-3 in the ACC, everyone's going to know that we had a relatively weak schedule (we do, but we beat teams that Duke is supposed to beat, which is funny to say) and getting blown out by a really strong team from a stronger conference isn't going to be good for the program. At the same time, playing a mid-major school in a low level bowl isn't going to do anything for the program either. Bowls are important for programs, they're important to the season as well, but I view them as measuring sticks for the program (YAY DUKE HAS A FOOTBALL PROGRAM THAT CAN BE MEASURED). I want a good match-up that Duke can win, not should win.
I hope that made sense, but push come to shove, I'd like to see the kids win a bowl game, they deserve it.
What's the point? Does that make them more worthwhile seeing over a bowl game? Regardless of how small (or big) they are, they are still a BAD team. I would rather freeze my tuckus off watching Duke something it has never done before (play a bowl game for the second year straight) than be warm in Cameron watching a blowout.Quote:
Originally Posted by throatybeard
I understand what you're saying, but FWIW...Quote:
Originally Posted by Dukehky
"It may not sound like much to some people but that’s the beginning of starting to believe you should win. Not can. There is a big difference. When you start believing you should win, then you start winning. This ‘can’ stuff is bull. It’s Durham Bull City bull. I’ve never liked that. Yes, of course you can win, but I hope we’re believing we should win." --Coach Cut after the UVA win
I just hope they don't make us play at 10pm on Thursday and noon on Saturday and in the same pod as unc.Quote:
Originally Posted by jimsumner
Talking bowl opponents is kind of weird at this point because there are so many moving pieces. Barring an improbable ACC championship, the range of bowls for Duke is what - Russell Athletic Bowl to Military Bowl, assuming FSU to Orange and Clemson to Chik-Fil-A. It's tough to predict what the bowls are going to do, so just win as many games as possible.
Your options leave much to be desired. Why in the world would winning in a higher-ranked bowl not be an option? And where is the dividing line? For the record, I want for us to play in the ACC Championship game, and then the highest ranked bowl for which we qualify. There's a minefield of ifs to get past yet, but you can bet the players are thinking big. Real big.Quote:
Originally Posted by Skitzle
I didn't read the OP's post to imply that winning the better-regarded bowl is impossible; rather, it was just a hypothetical question of if you had to pick between the two proposed options, which would you prefer?Quote:
Originally Posted by killerleft
Yeah, me too. I just couldn't figure out the point of it, I guess. I'd rather just know we did our best, and let the chips fall where they may. I can't bring myself to concede defeat until the clock hits zeros, so neither option works.Quote:
Originally Posted by wilson
Sorry in advance for an obnoxious response, but for me it depends on the difference in bowl quality - I'd rather win at a very slightly lesser bowl, but would rather play in a tremendously higher bowl (just happy to be there). I've never seen duke win a bowl game - changing that would mean a lot to me as a fan, so the breakeven is probably two or three bowl "levels".
A lot of football to be played before a bowl but....I think I'd like to play a name team but one we match up well with, such as a team that perhaps is vulnerable to the pass.
To be fair, I would venture to say that over 70% of Duke Football fans haven't seen Duke win a bowl game before (since our last win was in 1960)Quote:
Originally Posted by bob blue devil
This was really the point of my hypothetical.Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueDevilinNYC
Being in a higher bowl game (even if we lose) is a measuring stick for the program.
On the flip side... Who doesn't want to see Duke win a bowl game! :D Being in a lower ranked bowl gives us a significantly better shot at that satisfaction.
So which one is more satisfying to you? Seeing the Duke measuring stick move up a level, or ending the season with a win.
Similar question to UNC fans... Would they rather win the NIT or get knocked out in the Elite 8 :D!
Here are ESPN's two "experts" picking bowl projections...
http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls/projections
One has Duke vs USC in the Sun Bowl in El Paso.
The other has Duke vs Miss State in the Music City Bowl in Nashville.
Also of interest, while neither has FSU in the National Championship game, one has two ACC teams (FSU and Clemson) in BCS Bowls, while the other has just FSU. Oddly, it is the prognosticator who only has one ACC team in BCS Bowls who picks Duke for the higher-ranked Sun Bowl.