The Duke football team managed to overcome a four-point deficit in the fourth quarter against Connecticut on Saturday, but ESPN’s Football Power Index still punished the Blue Devils for the performance.
Head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] and his team dropped seven spots down to 71st in the FPI rankings, the fourth-lowest team in the Atlantic Coast Conference through Week 3.
The small drop seems fair when fans consider that the Huskies lost to Maryland by 43 points in the first game of the season. Duke played UConn like they should have early on, scoring the first 17 points of the game, but an unlucky pick-six and two straight touchdown drives to open the second half pulled Connecticut ahead again.
Despite the slight demotion, ESPN Analytics still likes Duke’s chances to reach the postseason. The Blue Devils are projected to win 6.7 games this season, and FPI thinks they have a 77% chance to make a bowl game.