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Bob Green
10-09-2007, 04:18 PM
In this poll (http://www.masseyratings.com/cf/compare.htm), Duke is ranked as the # 95 team in D-1. The only ACC team ranked lower is State at # 98.

A couple of future opponents, UNC & Notre Dame, are # 66 and # 88 respectively.

Some previous opponents: UConn # 20, Virginia # 30, Northwestern # 73, and Navy # 65.

throatybeard
10-09-2007, 05:59 PM
It's unscientific, but State is on ESPN's Bottom 10 (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?page=bottom10076), and due to our win over NU, we aren't back on it [yet].

hc5duke
10-10-2007, 03:38 AM
In football (http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1144&CID=723775), that is :) Good to see we're not making the bottom 25 any more :-p

Bluedawg
10-10-2007, 09:42 AM
In this poll (http://www.masseyratings.com/cf/compare.htm), Duke is ranked as the # 95 team in D-1. The only ACC team ranked lower is State at # 98.

A couple of future opponents, UNC & Notre Dame, are # 66 and # 88 respectively.

Some previous opponents: UConn # 20, Virginia # 30, Northwestern # 73, and Navy # 65.

And Duke held their own against all 4 of these.

4decadedukie
10-10-2007, 10:12 AM
UNC's defeat of Miami last Saturday unfortunately suggested that they are quickly gaining poise, maturity, and skill.

pfrduke
10-10-2007, 11:40 AM
And Duke held their own against all 4 of these.

Not sure I would describe the loss to UConn as holding our own.

Sagarin has us at 84th in his ELO-CHESS system, which is what the BCS uses. And actually, this sticks us at 75th in Div. I-A (there are nine I-AA teams ranked ahead of Duke in this system).

Bluedawg
10-10-2007, 12:40 PM
Not sure I would describe the loss to UConn as holding our own.

Granted, Duke came out flat in the second half, but it wasn't until the second half of the 4th qrt when they really fell apart.



Sagarin has us at 84th in his ELO-CHESS system, which is what the BCS uses. And actually, this sticks us at 75th in Div. I-A (there are nine I-AA teams ranked ahead of Duke in this system).

Do you have a link to this?

Duke84Blue
10-10-2007, 01:51 PM
These "rankings" (many variations can be found on the web) also highlight the relatively weak schedule we have this year. This may be the first year since 1987 where we only play one top 20 team (this weekend vs. Va. Tech). FSU may move back in depending upon the next few weekends which would make for a second ranked team but we have a schedule filled with good (but not great) opponents (Miami, Ga. Tech, Wake and Clemson). Compare that with 2002 when we won 2 games and lost 5 others by less than a TD. This was versus a schedule filled with 6 teams that were in the top 30 based on several "power rankings". So, while we have missed some good opportunities in recent weeks versus decent (but certainly not top tier) teams - Navy, Miami and Wake - we have several more lined up throughout November (Clemson, Tech, ND and UNC). (Based solely on schedule strength) if there is a year to turn the corner, win a few games and create confidence in your head coach, then this is it.

pfrduke
10-10-2007, 03:51 PM
Sagarin ratings (http://www.kiva.net/~jsagarin/sports/cfsend.htm) (I think you can also find them at USA Today's website).

JasonEvans
10-10-2007, 07:54 PM
These "rankings" (many variations can be found on the web) also highlight the relatively weak schedule we have this year. This may be the first year since 1987 where we only play one top 20 team (this weekend vs. Va. Tech). FSU may move back in depending upon the next few weekends which would make for a second ranked team but we have a schedule filled with good (but not great) opponents (Miami, Ga. Tech, Wake and Clemson). Compare that with 2002 when we won 2 games and lost 5 others by less than a TD. This was versus a schedule filled with 6 teams that were in the top 30 based on several "power rankings". So, while we have missed some good opportunities in recent weeks versus decent (but certainly not top tier) teams - Navy, Miami and Wake - we have several more lined up throughout November (Clemson, Tech, ND and UNC). (Based solely on schedule strength) if there is a year to turn the corner, win a few games and create confidence in your head coach, then this is it.

Duke's schedule is so weak...

...How weak is it?

Its so weak that the Sagarin computer, the best knowna dn one of the most respected rankings around, have it ranked 7th toughest in the land.

I must admit I find this amazing, but I think it reflects the fact that we did not schedule any truly easy games. We don't have many stud, top-10 opponents, but we don't play any gimmes either.

With our next several opponents ranked #17, #20, #35, and #43 our schedule strength will do nothing but get higher. We will almost certainly end the season with one of the 10 toughest schedules in the land. That's very impressive and worth noting as everyone laments the fact that we have been close but unable to get over the hump for the most part against this monster schedule.

-Jason "I need to check other computer rankings to see how our schedule ranks-- #7 does seem a bit high" Evans

LetItBD08
10-10-2007, 08:08 PM
Little off topic, but has anyone else noticed that we have the most wins in the country against the spread?
http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/against-the-spread/
We haven't covered since UConn. I'm not much of a betting man, but it's interesting to see how well we're doing against what people think (I know the making of a spread is more complex than that, but 5-1 isn't too bad). It's going to be really cool when we start getting these wins for real.

ikiru36
10-10-2007, 08:30 PM
Also, when looking at our schedule difficulty this year, don't forget that we only play 5 at home and 7 away! When you factor in the lack of gimmes and that even our 5 home games often feel like neutral sites at best, our fellas don't have it easy.

[sad, and perhaps unfair, but that's how Wally Wade often seems to me. When I listen on the radio, I can't figure out what happened based upon crowd reaction because there's such a loud cheer, even when the other team has just scored or made a big defensive play :0(.....]

Additionally, whatever our strength of schedule is, it was expected to be even tougher as Notre Dame had to be expected to be a Top 20 ranked team, at worst, when the game was planned. I wish I thought we created such a difficult schedule because we believed in how good we would be. I fear that the difficult road games have more to do with the money we receive for such contests.

All that aside, there is no denying that Duke's offense is far more exciting than it has been in quite a while and it is likely that we have future All-ACC performers at QB and wideout at the very least. The defense is also far more consistent than they've been in awhile though I worry that losing our most versatile/talented defender may prove a serious blow to a team for whom defensive depth is not a strength. Or perhaps someone else will step up now!

I'm looking forward to rooting 'em on and see what happens!

Go Duke!!!!!!!!!!! Go Devils!!!!!!!!!!!!! GTHCGTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

throatybeard
10-10-2007, 08:47 PM
I still can't believe we only have 5 homes games on a 12-game schedule. That's the sort of thing you get kicked out of a BCS conference for. :mad:

Duke84Blue
10-10-2007, 09:33 PM
Jason,

You make good points on the strength of schedule especially with regards to ours being so balanced and not having S.C. State (#170) or Louisiana-Lafayette (#152) like the Gamecocks do. It turns out that the Sagarin SOS is based on "games played so far". So, while someone like Georgia currently has an SOS of #58, that number is likely to go much lower with Florida (9), Auburn (12) and Kentucky (23) remaining. But, our schedule remains balanced so we should stay towards the top on most difficult schedules. My point was not about being "relative" to other teams but "relative" to prior Duke schedules. Looking at the ACC, the conference is ranked #6 and we are getting the likes of Clemson, Virginia, Wake, Tech, UNC, Miami all ranked in the 40's and 50's. Compare that to 2003 when the conference was #1 and we played games vs. #6,16,17,26,27 and 33. This year we play #7,20 and then jump to 35. But, I appreciate your point that there are no VMIs, Richmonds or ECUs on this year's schedule and we play a lot of good, solid teams, which means we should be in more games (as we have been) but it makes it more difficult to get the wins (as we are seeing) since there are no slouches.