One can dream...never say never. Remember NCSU in 1983 basketball? No one ever thought they had a chance...
ACC Football Championship
- Thread starter arnie
- Start date
CameronBornAndBred
Well-known member
Tee-Hee
InSpades
Member
Oops, yah, I was considering a "good team" as any of the 6-2 or better teams (there were no 5 win teams).
Another thing to point out... Duke is the only team that only lost to good teams. Every other team lost to a 4-4 team.
UVA lost to Wake.
Pitt lost to Louisville.
GA Tech lost to NC State.
SMU lost to Wake and Cal.
Miami lost to Louisville.
Props to Louisville and Wake for both having 2 wins against the top teams.
RoseBowl1942
Member
Wake is actually a good team. They were 8-4 and should have been 9-3 if it weren’t for terrible officiating against GA Tech on the offsides play. And they beat UVA and SMU. They are not a pushover
killerleft
Member
"C'est la vie" say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell. - Chuck Berry.
Poor Miami. They sent away Manny. C'mon, Manny!! Let's really rub it in!
Tee-Hee, indeed!
Poor Miami. They sent away Manny. C'mon, Manny!! Let's really rub it in!
Tee-Hee, indeed!
It seems like oddsmakers and much of the knowledgeable CFB community are looking at that game as something of an anomaly. Not sure I agree with that but results vs common opponents (State, Carolina, Cal and Wake) suggest that this game should be something of a toss up. And that we might be favored were it not for that head to head result.
IMHO, this one is really on the staff to game plan and play call much better and instill much greater focus and intensity in the team. I do believe we can win if we are appropriately prepared and play a clean game.
Dr. Maturin
Member
It's possible that UVA is just a bad matchup and that they'll whip us again. I don't think so, though. Everything we know about the two teams suggests they have similar talent levels. The 247 talent composite has Duke at #58 and UVA at #62. The two teams performed similarly against common opponents. There is reason to believe UVA is not as good as its record, given how they've won so many close games.
I think we can be competitive. To win, I do think we'll need Mensah to have a great game, and/or win the turnover battle, and/or get a score on defense/special teams.
I think we can be competitive. To win, I do think we'll need Mensah to have a great game, and/or win the turnover battle, and/or get a score on defense/special teams.
Duke actually performed better against common opponents:
NC State beat UVA 35-31 (H) and lost to us 45-33 (A)
Cal lost to UVA 31-21 and to us 45-21 (both H)
UNC lost to UVA 17-16 and to us 32-25 (both H)
Wake beat UVA 16-9 and lost to us 49-32 (both A)
UVA was 2-2 and exactly even in points scored
Duke was 4-0 and +60 in points scored
RoseBowl1942
Member
Yeah but NCSU was an OOC game. So for all intents and purposes, we should pretend it never happened. Even in this comparison where that information is completely irrelevant. It never happened
CameronBlue
Member
Its a common opponent, whether or not its in or out of conference doesn't make a difference. No different if the common opponent had been Tulane or UConn or Coastal, how did both teams fare against same competition.
The real issue here is UVA won the head to head and without too much of a struggle.
Mike Petrik
Member
Yes, the question is what is more revealing, the records against common opponents or the head-to-head result? And that question turns on whether the result was a function of a match-up problem for Duke or just one lousy game. I'm looking forward to finding out Saturday.
hope you're right, but I remain doubtful...they just completely dominated us. Maybe that makes them overconfident? This is going to require all the lucky clothing I can muster.
You seriously underestimate the number of people who root for chaos.
Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
Member
A large number of those who say they root for chaos in the short term are more interested in $omething el$e long termYou seriously underestimate the number of people who root for chaos.
But they're rooting for us now. Gotta take what you can get.
NOBODY outside Charlottesville is excited about the Hoos in the CFP.
Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
Member
Fair point. Given that a Duke win might open the door for a smaller conference to get another team in the playoff, we might get goodwill from the casual fan.
Assuming any casual fan might watch this game.
cato
Member
Out here in SoCal, casual fans are most likely neutral to somewhat positive about Duke. Certainly there are haters, but I would not consider those to be casual fans.
Duke football is so far off the radar of college football fans here, that most don’t realize how bad the program was between Spurrier and Cutcliffe. They just know that the football program is not as good as the basketball team.
Actually, they do know how bad the program was between Spurrier and Cutcliffe—that's why Duke football is so far off the radar of college football fans, period. Even folks who pay attention to good teams don't really give our program much credit nowadays, often writing Duke off as a 'bad loss.' In the past 4 years, Duke has not been a 'bad' loss at all, and a win over our program should actually be considered a quality win [IMHO].