Duke May Only Need 5 Wins to be Bowl Eligible

[matt1]

Not that any of us want it to come to this, but, should there not be 70 teams with 6 wins, the NCAA allows 5-7 teams into bowl games in order of APR. Duke ranks third in the country this year, but the first two (Northwestern and Boise St.) should easily be bowl eligible. Therefore, we would be the first 5-7 team potentially taken for a bowl game.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Not that any of us want it to come to this, but, should there not be 70 teams with 6 wins, the NCAA allows 5-7 teams into bowl games in order of APR. Duke ranks third in the country this year, but the first two (Northwestern and Boise St.) should easily be bowl eligible. Therefore, we would be the first 5-7 team potentially taken for a bowl game.
That's a first that I would happily pass on to another team to claim.

[wilko]

If we got to a bowl this year. I'd prefer it was because we won enough to have merit for a bowl.
Not by default that everyone one else was super sucky.

[BigWayne]

Not that any of us want it to come to this, but, should there not be 70 teams with 6 wins, the NCAA allows 5-7 teams into bowl games in order of APR. Duke ranks third in the country this year, but the first two (Northwestern and Boise St.) should easily be bowl eligible. Therefore, we would be the first 5-7 team potentially taken for a bowl game.
The NCAA rule makes the top five teams all equally eligible if at 5-7 records, i.e. only if less than 70 6 win teams are available.
The ranking only matters if they still need more 5-7 teams below the top 5 APR.

Scores announced in June
Top FBS APRs: Nwern 996, Boise 993, Duke 989, Clem & Wis 985.
Ga Tech 983, BC, Mizzou & Ohio St 982, Bama, Rutgers & Stan 978

Only one on that list besides Duke that might end up at 5-7 is BC.

[Greg_Newton]

Isn't it actually a pretty complex rule? I remember this coming up before, and there ended up being some reason why it probably wouldn't happen after all. I forget what the exact language was, though.

ETA: If we end up 5-7, I'd take it in a second, though, if for no other reason than the extra month of practice.

[BigWayne]

Isn't it actually a pretty complex rule? I remember this coming up before, and there ended up being some reason why it probably wouldn't happen after all. I forget what the exact language was, though.

ETA: If we end up 5-7, I'd take it in a second, though, if for no other reason than the extra month of practice.

There are a couple categories of extra eligibility above the 5-7 APR leaders, but they are pretty unlikely also as they involve new FBS
teams in the reclassification process, GA ST and

Probability this clause gets used is very low anyway though. The last 5 years, there have been eligible teams without a bowl, 4,3,2,2,2 respectively.
The total number of teams is inching up with UTSA and USA becoming eligible this year, GA ST next year, so it is not likely the eligible team count will fall below 70 (current bowl slot count) unless a lot of teams are ineligible for off field reasons. Last year there were 4 teams ineligible because of sanctions that would have been numerically eligible.

[Dev11]

We're going to win at least 4 more games this year.

[matt1]

There are a couple categories of extra eligibility above the 5-7 APR leaders, but they are pretty unlikely also as they involve new FBS
teams in the reclassification process, GA ST and

Probability this clause gets used is very low anyway though. The last 5 years, there have been eligible teams without a bowl, 4,3,2,2,2 respectively.
The total number of teams is inching up with UTSA and USA becoming eligible this year, GA ST next year, so it is not likely the eligible team count will fall below 70 (current bowl slot count) unless a lot of teams are ineligible for off field reasons. Last year there were 4 teams ineligible because of sanctions that would have been numerically eligible.

About the future: A 36th Bowl Game is already approved to begin in 2014, and it is very possible that a 37th is added; then 72 or 74 bowl eligible teams would be necessary.

[Henderson]

Embarassing. Going to a bowl with a 5-7 record would be embarassing. It would be like watching my daughter receive an award for a C- year.

Patronizing, dilution of standards, transparent $$ grab. Does Cut have an incentive clause for making a bowl game? And what if we lost to some other losing team? Is this what Duke will stoop to? Going 5-7 and losing to Colgate? How does that help? If we won, would we hang a banner or put the trophy in a case like we're proud of the season? Emblazon "2014 Loser Bowl Runners Up" on next season's jersey? Will that attract recruits?

It's a short road to the Helms Bakery.

If Duke doesn't have a winning record, I hope they eschew any opportunities to embarass themselves. I'd be proud to see them take the high ground. Slogan: "No Thanks. Bowl Games are for Winners. See You Soon."

[arnie]

We're going to win at least 4 more games this year.

Which 3 other than Troy?

[Bob Green]

Which 3 other than Troy?

Navy and Wake Forest are the next two most likely candidates after Troy with no game being a gimme at this point. I view Virginia, Virginia Tech, and N.C. State as toss up games so we would need to win one of them to get to six wins on the season. Miami and Carolina are the two toughest opponents left on the schedule. We lost to Miami by seven points in a shoot-out last year and beat Carolina so anything is possible.

I still feel comfortable we will achieve six wins and bowl eligibility; however, our margin for error is nil.

There are several unknowns moving forward with the first being how much Connette improves game-by-game. Yes, he threw four interceptions but he also threw four touchdown passes. How fast do the youngsters in the secondary mature is another big unknown. The season is still young. We are okay.

The defensive lines inability to pressure the opponent's QB is my biggest concern right now.

[CDu]

Which 3 other than Troy?

Troy, Navy, and @Wake are all games in which we should be favored. State and @UVa each provide good opportunities as well, as neither of them are that good either. And Va Tech has just squeaked by Marshall and ECU, so beating them isn't out of the question.

If we win the three games that we're supposed to win, then we just need to win one of those three games against State and the Virginia schools.

[Wander]

Navy and Wake Forest are the next two most likely candidates after Troy with no game being a gimme at this point. I view Virginia, Virginia Tech, and N.C. State as toss up games so we would need to win one of them to get to six wins on the season. Miami and Carolina are the two toughest opponents left on the schedule. We lost to Miami by seven points in a shoot-out last year and beat Carolina so anything is possible.

I'd agree with this assessment if Boone were healthy. Unfortunately, our defense still looks like the worst in the ACC, and it's too bad that we can't try to outscore teams with our starting QB. I'd say Troy is a game we should win, and we should view Navy, Wake, UVA, NC State, and Virginia Tech all as tossups.

We do have a favorable schedule missing Clemson and FSU and not having a Stanford or Alabama in the non-con, so we're still in it.

[dukeofcalabash]

How embarrassing would that be? :o

[arnie]

Navy and Wake Forest are the next two most likely candidates after Troy with no game being a gimme at this point. I view Virginia, Virginia Tech, and N.C. State as toss up games so we would need to win one of them to get to six wins on the season. Miami and Carolina are the two toughest opponents left on the schedule. We lost to Miami by seven points in a shoot-out last year and beat Carolina so anything is possible.

I still feel comfortable we will achieve six wins and bowl . . .

I agree we should win either 1or 2 games against WF and Navy. Hopefully we can take 1 against UVA / State. Don't believe the VPI game will really be close to a toss up - we typically self destruct against them. I think the other 2 are out of the question. Anyway, maybe 6 is possible, but won't be shocked if we finish 4-8.

[blazindw]

Embarassing. Going to a bowl with a 5-7 record would be embarassing. It would be like watching my daughter receive an award for a C- year.

Patronizing, dilution of standards, transparent $$ grab. Does Cut have an incentive clause for making a bowl game? And what if we lost to some other losing team? Is this what Duke will stoop to? Going 5-7 and losing to Colgate? How does that help? If we won, would we hang a banner or put the trophy in a case like we're proud of the season? Emblazon "2014 Loser Bowl Runners Up" on next season's jersey? Will that attract recruits?

It's a short road to the Helms Bakery.

If Duke doesn't have a winning record, I hope they eschew any opportunities to embarass themselves. I'd be proud to see them take the high ground. Slogan: "No Thanks. Bowl Games are for Winners. See You Soon."


I will never be ashamed for our boys to be in any bowl game. Under any circumstances.

[Edouble]

Embarassing. Going to a bowl with a 5-7 record would be embarassing. It would be like watching my daughter receive an award for a C- year.

Patronizing, dilution of standards, transparent $$ grab. Does Cut have an incentive clause for making a bowl game? And what if we lost to some other losing team? Is this what Duke will stoop to? Going 5-7 and losing to Colgate? How does that help? If we won, would we hang a banner or put the trophy in a case like we're proud of the season? Emblazon "2014 Loser Bowl Runners Up" on next season's jersey? Will that attract recruits?

It's a short road to the Helms Bakery.

If Duke doesn't have a winning record, I hope they eschew any opportunities to embarass themselves. I'd be proud to see them take the high ground. Slogan: "No Thanks. Bowl Games are for Winners. See You Soon."

Agree. It's like being on the NIT bubble.

[jv001]

Navy and Wake Forest are the next two most likely candidates after Troy with no game being a gimme at this point. I view Virginia, Virginia Tech, and N.C. State as toss up games so we would need to win one of them to get to six wins on the season. Miami and Carolina are the two toughest opponents left on the schedule. We lost to Miami by seven points in a shoot-out last year and beat Carolina so anything is possible.

I still feel comfortable we will achieve six wins and bowl eligibility; however, our margin for error is nil.

There are several unknowns moving forward with the first being how much Connette improves game-by-game. Yes, he threw four interceptions but he also threw four touchdown passes. How fast do the youngsters in the secondary mature is another big unknown. The season is still young. We are okay.

The defensive lines inability to pressure the opponent's QB is my biggest concern right now.

Amen, Bob. We need for our DL to step up and show improvement in pressuring the QB. Our secondary was burned by the Pitt receivers but the QB had all day to throw the ball. Even our All American corner got beat on throws. To be bowl eligible our defense must improve and it begins with the DL. GoDuke!

[rifraf]

Our boys are smart and they work hard in the classroom as well as the field. I'd be proud for our team to play in any bowl, especially one that we EARNED by having good students.

[Duvall]

Agree. It's like being on the NIT bubble.

Except that the teams that grandstand about being too good for a spot in the NIT are incredibly annoying. Take the bid and let the kids practice and play.

[johnb]

Embarassing. Going to a bowl with a 5-7 record would be embarassing. ....Going 5-7 and losing to Colgate?

I'm hoping for a lot of wins. Football is a funny game, and we could win a half dozen more without magic. Nevertheless, if we do get asked to play Colgate, I say, "Beat the Raiders!!!"

[OldPhiKap]

The idea that we would turn down a bowl - and the chance for extra practice - is kinda silly IMO.

Let's just win as many games as possible, and see what happens. There is no reason we cannot put ourselves in a position better than this hypothetical.