Since the start of the 2022 season, the Duke Blue Devils have the second-best win percentage of any ACC football program.
The Duke Blue Devils have found some incredible form on the gridiron over the last three seasons, winning at least eight games in every campaign despite an offseason coaching change. However, the performance in Durham looks even more impressive when compared to the team’s peers around the conference.
Since the start of the 2022 season, Duke has won 26 games, tied for the second-most of any ACC team. In fact, because of an additional loss by the Louisville Cardinals (albeit in last year’s conference championship game), the Blue Devils have the second-best win percentage among the 14 traditional ACC teams in that period.
Duke has an overall win percentage of 68.4% in this recent run. Only the Clemson Tigers (74.4%) have been better, and only five total ACC programs have won more than 60% of their contests in the last three seasons. Even the Florida State Seminoles (64.1%) dropped below the Blue Devils thanks to a stunning 2-10 campaign in 2024.
Even just in conference games, Duke is one of four ACC teams with a .500 record or better in each of the last three seasons. Only Clemson (19-5) and Louisville (16-8) have been better than the Blue Devils’ 14-10 record against conference opponents.
Check out each team’s record, both overall and in conference play, below (note that new members SMU, Stanford, and California were excluded due to their different conference schedules in 2022-23).
Our best photos from Clemson’s thrilling 70-66 takedown of the fourth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Clemson is getting pretty good at beating some of the blue blood programs and top-five college basketball teams.
Brad Brownell’s Tigers (8-1 overall) did it again on Tuesday night inside a raucous Littlejohn Coliseum in front of a national television audience on ESPN. Behind a career-high 20 rebounds from senior Ian Schieffelin, who added 11 points to go with 12 points from Chauncey Wiggins, the Tigers took down the No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats, 70-66, in the SEC-ACC Challenge.
Kentucky (7-1) suffered its first loss of the season under first-year coach Mark Pope. The Wildcats were held to a season-low in points after averaging 96.7 entering the night. Kentucky had gone over the 100-point plateau in four of its first seven games.
It was the Tigers’ fourth straight win over a top-five opponent in the AP Top 25 poll as an unranked team. According to OptaSTATS, it’s a feat that no other program has accomplished since the AP poll expanded to 25 teams in the 1989-90 season.
Clemson led Kentucky, 37-30, at intermission before pulling ahead by as many as eight with 4:20 to play after a three throw from Boston College Eagles transfer Jaeden Zackery. Senior Chase Hunter iced the game with two free throws with one second remaining.
Hunter (10 points) was one of four Clemson players to finish in double figures, joining Schieffelin, Wiggins and Zackery, who had a team-high 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field.
Afterwards, fans stormed the court to celebrate the Tigers’ latest takedown of a top-ranked team. A season ago, Clemson entered the NCAA Tournament unranked and reeled off three wins — against New Mexico, the Baylor Bears and Arizona Wildcats — to reach the Elite Eight for only the second time in program history.
The Jacksonville Jaguars announced that they had placed the injured franchise quarterback on injured reserve. The Jaguars made the announcement moments after NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and ESPN’s Adam Schefter first posted the news to social media.
Lawrence was injured on a dirty hit to the head from Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair in Sunday’s 23-20 Jaguars loss at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville.
On Tuesday, Al-Shaair was suspended three games for repeated violations of player safety rules after his hit on Lawrence. Al-Shaair was ejected in the second quarter. Lawrence suffered a concussion on the hit from the veteran NFL linebacker, who is in his sixth season in the league.
At just 2-10 and in last place in the AFC South, the Jaguars are in the midst of a miserable season — one that just got even worse. Jacksonville is tied with the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants for the worst record in the league.
Over the off-season, Lawrence agreed to a five-year, $275 million contract extension from the Jaguars. Before Sunday’s injury, he had thrown for 2,045 yards and 11 touchdowns to seven interceptions this season and compiled a quarterback rating of 85.2. That ranked Lawrence 29th out of 35 quarterbacks in the NFL this season.
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With a 10-win season still on the table with a potential bowl victory, the Blue Devils fell behind their in-state rivals 17-3 early in the third quarter. However, Duke stormed back once again thanks to the second-half performance of quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag]. The former Texas Longhorn completed 16 of his last 20 passes for 153 yards with two total touchdowns, including the winning 39-yard pass to Jordan Moore on the final play.
The Blue Devils now have 39 votes in the coaches poll, leaving them in an unofficial 27th as the second-leading team in the Receiving Votes category.
Four ACC teams made the top 25, led by the SMU Mustangs (No. 7) after they put the finishing touches on an undefeated conference schedule with a 38-6 victory over California on Saturday. Instead of presumed favorite Miami, SMU will face the Clemson Tigers (No. 17) in the conference title game. The Hurricanes dropped to 14th after they lost a 42-38 shootout to Syracuse on the road, dropping to 10-2 with a worse conference record than Dabo Swinney’s program.
The Orange, also 9-3 thanks to the stunning victory, joined the bottom of the rankings at 25th.
The two teams did not meet during the regular season, but have everything to play for as the winner will receive an automatic berth into the College Football Playoff.
The two teams did not meet during the regular season, but have everything to play for as the winner will receive an automatic berth into the College Football Playoff.
Penn State men’s basketball took its first loss of the season.
While the majority of attention surrounding Penn State athletics is placed on the football program with them seemingly locking up their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance, it’s been an exciting start to the year for the Nittany Lions on the hardcourt.
It’s been an exciting brand of basketball for the Nittany Lions this season with them pushing the pace and scoring the ball at a high rate to average 96.0 points per game with them scoring over 100 points in three of there first six contests.
Penn State was able to use that momentum to reach the championship game of the Sunshine Slam where they faced off against Clemson.
Unfortunately, that came to an end on Tuesday with a 75-67 loss.
The Nittany Lions were fighting an uphill battle for the majority of the first half after the Tigers broke the gridlock early to take a lead just under three minutes into the ballgame. But, they were able to claw their way back and eventually look the lead, 28-21, after going on an 18-4 run.
Penn State wasn’t able to maintain that and went into the locker room down 38-36 at halftime after Clemson recovered from that poor stretch.
The second half was a battle.
Both teams tried to create separation by going on runs, but neither was able to put things away until Clemson took control of the final six minutes by outscoring Penn State 13-6 to close out the game.
It was a tough loss for the Nittany Lions with a championship trophy on the line, especially when they had played so good on offense to date before putting up this clunker where they shot 46.4% (26-56) from the field and just 22.2% (4-18) from three.
Turnovers and fouls were also a major issue for Penn State.
They turned it over 17 times and committed 19 fouls that gave Clemson 20 tries from the free throw line.
Still, there were positives to take away from this loss with [autotag]Ace Baldwin[/autotag] leading all scorers with 20 points while adding 11 assists for yet another double double.
[autotag]Nick Kern[/autotag] also performed well again with 11 points off the bench. [autotag]Yanic Hiederhauser[/autotag] was the only other player in double figures with 14 points and six rebounds.
Despite the loss, Penn State will certainly take the start to their season.
They’ll head back home for a matchup against Buffalo on Dec. 1 before welcoming the current No. 14 team Purdue to the Bryce Jordan Center on Dec. 5.
Clemson led in the first half but a big South Carolina run led the Gamecocks to a win over the Tigers at Littlejohn Coliseum Wednesday night.
CLEMSON, S.C. – The Clemson Tigers (3-1) led for more than 11 minutes in the first half against No. 1 South Carolina, but couldn’t overcome a big run from the Gamecocks (5-0), who pulled away for a 77-45 win in Littlejohn Coliseum in the Palmetto Series presented by the South Carolina Education Lottery.
Graduate Loyal McQueen led the Tigers with 15 points, while Mia Moore added 12 points and six rebounds. The Tigers shot .389 from outside, knocking down seven three pointers on 18 attempts and hit all 12 of their free throw attempts in the contest.
The low-scoring first quarter saw Clemson’s defense, which entered the game ranked first in the nation in scoring defense and third in field goal percentage defense, hold the Gamecocks to just five field goals over 27 attempts (.185) in the first 12 minutes of gameplay. Clemson was able to open up a modest 7-4 lead behind McQueen, and the Tigers led 11-10 after the first quarter.
The Tigers opened up a 17-12 lead on Mia Moore’s three-pointer from the top of the key with 5:18 to play in the half, and led for more than 11 minutes in the first half. However, South Carolina scored the game’s next 23 points, spanning halftime, to take a 35-17 lead early in the third quarter. Clemson cut it to 37-26 midway through the third quarter, but South Carolina again responded, closing on a 14-5 run.
UP NEXT: The Clemson Tigers will travel to Florida to Destin November 25-26 where they will compete in the Emerald Coast Classic.
CLEMSON LEADERS: Loyal McQueen 15 points 2 assists (4-15 FG, 1-2 3FG, 6-6 FT), Mia Moore 6 rebounds, Tessa Miller 2 assists
NOTABLES:
This was Coach Poppie’s first meeting with South Carolina.
Loyal McQueen’s fourth consecutive game scoring in double figures.
The Tigers held the Gamecocks to 14% from 3FG on one made three in the first half.
A look at the experts’ latest bowl game projections for Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers.
Entering Week 13 of the 2024 college football season, it can be somewhat hard to project where Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers will spend bowl season in December/January.
On the one hand, Clemson (up to No. 17 in the latest CFP rankings) still has a chance, however slim, to reach the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte on Dec. 7. Doing so would guarantee the Tigers of at least a shot at reaching the College Football Playoff.
And if the Tigers win the ACC title game and get to 11-2 overall, they’d get a first-round bye and play in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta against the winner of the No. 6 vs. No. 11 seed game.
More realistically? The Miami Hurricanes and SMU Mustangs, the two teams on course to get to Charlotte, probably aren’t losing their final regular season games in conference play.
Cam Ward and the Hurricanes close out the year with a home game against Wake Forest this Saturday before hitting the road to play Syracuse, while Rhett Lashlee’s Mustangs have conference games against Virginia and California to close the regular season.
Heading into Week 13, here’s what national college football writers and others in the sport’s media universe are saying about Clemson’s bowl game projections — and which teams they might face.
Clemson Football’s Latest Bowl Projections
Pop-Tarts Bowl (Orlando, Fla., Dec. 28)
Jeremy Reper-USA TODAY Sports
USA TODAY Sports analyst Erick Smith sees the Tigers making a trip to Orlando to play in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. The only difference in Smith’s projection from last week is who the Tigers will face. With the BYU Cougars falling 17-13 to the Kansas Jayhawks in Week 12, BYU replaces Iowa State as Smith’s Big 12 representative.
This matchup would be a first, as Clemson and BYU have never met on the football field. The Pop-Tarts Bowl has been known by several names, the longest being the Champs Sports Bowl (2004-11). Some fans will recall its original name — the Blockbuster Bowl (1990-93).
Duke’s Mayo Bowl (Charlotte, N.C., Jan. 3, 2025)
Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm still sees Clemson in a bowl that’s a lot closer to the Upstate: the Duke’s Mayo Bowl at Bank of America Stadium to kick off 2025. Palm has the Tigers facing the Big Ten’s Minnesota Golden Gophers. Minnesota sits at 6-4 and has upset wins over the USC Trojans and Illinois Fighting Illini this season.
The Tigers and Gophers have met once before — in the 1985 Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., a 20-13 Minnesota win.
The Sporting News’ Bill Bender agrees with the Duke’s Mayo Bowl projection and has Clemson in that game against Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes. As with Minnesota, Clemson and Iowa have never met in a head-to-head contest.
Holiday Bowl (San Diego, Calif., Dec. 27)
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
This has been a pretty common bowl game projection for the Tigers since their stunning 33-21 loss to Louisville on Nov. 2.
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura has Clemson in the Holiday Bowl against Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes. Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter and the Buffaloes still have a path to the College Football Playoff (as do the Tigers, no matter how narrow), so this projection could change for both teams in the coming weeks.
“Clemson’s comeback win at Pitt kept Clemson alive in the ACC race, but this looks like Miami or SMU’s league to win. Arizona State’s upset of Kansas State means the Sun Devils are streaking and have a chance to really toss a wrench in the Big 12 picture the rest of the way.”
Veteran college football reporter Brett McMurphy also sees Clemson in the Holiday Bowl, only against Arizona State.
ReliaQuest Bowl (Tampa, Fla., Dec. 31)
Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
Sports Illustrated’s Patrick Andres sees Clemson in the Sunshine State on New Year’s Eve in the game formerly known as the Outback Bowl. Andres forecasts Clemson to be playing an SEC team in Tampa: Diego Pavia and the Vanderbilt Commodores.
Interestingly, Clemson and Vanderbilt have met four times previously, but none have been in the past 60-plus years. The two programs last played in 1960, a 22-20 Commodores win in Nashville. Vanderbilt leads the all-time series vs. the Tigers, 3-1.
Clemson has played in this bowl only once before, on New Year’s Day 1991 when it was called the Hall of Fame Bowl. In that game, coach Ken Hatfield’s Tigers blanked Illinois, 30-0, in a nationally televised contest on NBC to finish the season 10-2 overall and No. 9 in the final Coaches Poll.
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Take a look at this year’s purple uniform combination that Clemson will wear for Saturday’s game against The Citadel.
Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers are set to wear their classic purple jerseys for this week’s game against The Citadel, the team announced on its social media platforms on Monday.
Clemson will wear purple jerseys over purple pants for Saturday’s game. Kickoff for Clemson vs. The Citadel is set for 3:30 p.m. ET in Death Valley. The game will be televised on The CW.
Clemson celebrates Military Appreciation Day every year by wearing its purple uniforms in reverence to the Purple Heart award. The Tigers wore their purple uniforms in last year’s 42-21 victory over Georgia Tech on Nov. 11.
In previous years, Clemson wore the purple jerseys against Louisville in 2022, against UConn in 2021, and against Pitt in 2020.
Clemson is ranked No. 16 in this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll following their 24-20 victory over Pitt on Saturday.
