Tag: Duke Blue Devils

Duke basketball just misses No. 1 seed in latest ESPN Bracketology projection

The Duke Blue Devils, despite two early losses, remain in contention for a No. 1 seed in ESPN’s latest bracket projection.

Most preseason national championship favorites would be frustrated with a 5-2 start to the season, but most national championship favorites haven’t played the schedule that the Duke Blue Devils have.

Head coach Jon Scheyer and his team have lost to the Kentucky Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks, two other blue-blood programs, by a combined eight points. ESPN’s longtime bracket expert Joe Lunardi thought neither loss demanded a reevaluation of the Blue Devils, and in his latest projections on Tuesday, he kept Duke as the No. 2 seed in the East region.

[autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], who scored 50 combined points against Kentucky and Arizona, would lead his team against Norfolk State in the opening round if Lunardi’s hypothetical bracket came to pass. Duke would tackle either the Texas Longhorns or Maryland Terrapins in the second round, and the Tennessee Volunteers occupied the top spot in the region.

The Auburn Tigers, who come to Durham on Wednesday for yet another top-25 clash, jumped ahead of Kansas for Lunardi’s top overall seed after their Maui Invitational victory. Auburn has already taken down the Houston Cougars, Iowa State Cyclones, and North Carolina Tar Heels through seven games.

The Tar Heels, with three losses on their resume already, tumbled down to the No. 5 seed in the East.

Duke offensive tackle Brian Parker II named to PFF ACC Team of the Week

Duke offensive tackle Brian Parker II made the Pro Football Focus ACC Team of the Week for his work against Wake Forest in Week 14.

Pro Football Focus unveiled its conference teams of the week for Week 14 on Sunday, and Duke offensive tackle Brian Parker II nabbed one of two spots for his position thanks to his performance against Wake Forest.

Parker, a redshirt sophomore who started seven games in 2023, ended Saturday’s game with a PFF offensive grade of 75.9. The popular analytics site gave him the most credit for his work in the passing game, not crediting him with a single pressure on 35 snaps for an 83.8 pass-blocking grade.

According to the Pro Football Focus charting, Parker has allowed seven pressures and zero sacks across 440 pass-blocking snaps in 2024. Pass protection has been a strength for the rebuilt Duke offensive line all season. Blue Devils quarterback Maalik Murphy only hit the turf for 12 sacks this season, tied for the 13th-fewest of any FBS team.

Parker also made the PFF National Team of the Week in Week 6 after a stellar road outing against Georgia Tech.

CBS Sports bowl projection after Week 14 pits Duke football against Big Ten opponent

Following the end of the college football regular season, see where the Duke Blue Devils ended up in CBS Sports’ latest bowl projections.

The end of the 2024 college football regular season is officially here. Duke finished the season with a 9-3 overall record and tied for fourth on the ACC table (5-3 in conference play). Now, it’s time to see what bowl game they’ll draw.

CBS Sports writer Jerry Palm’s most recent bowl projection had the Blue Devils in the same spot he’s had them for a few weeks now, facing Minnesota in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. The game would take place at 7:30 p.m. in Charlotte on January 3.

Minnesota finished the regular season 7-5 with a 5-4 record in Big Ten conference play. Their record doesn’t show how tough they’ve been, though. Despite losing, the Golden Gophers played the Michigan Wolverines and Penn State Nittany Lions very closely, only losing by four combined points.

Duke faced one Big Ten opponent in 2024, a road trip to Northwestern back in September. The Blue Devils prevailed 26-20 after two overtime touchdowns.

Despite two losses in their last three games, the Miami Hurricanes still made Palm’s College Football Playoff field as the 12th and final seed. The SMU Mustangs earned a first-round bye as his presumed conference champion.

Latest USA TODAY Sports bowl projection create Big Ten matchup for Duke football

Where are the Duke Blue Devils in the latest USA TODAY Sports bowl projections?

Duke ended the 2024 college football regular season with a last-second 23-17 victory over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

The Blue Devils finished up with a 9-3 record in the end, their second nine-win season in three years, to finish in a tie for fourth in the ACC (5-3 conference record). It’s clear Duke will draw a worthy bowl destination, but the question remains where that ends up being.

In Erick Smith’s latest bowl projections for USA TODAY Sports published on Monday, the Blue Devils drew the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. The game, an ironic landing spot for Duke, will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina, on the night of January 3rd.

Minnesota finished the season with seven wins, tied for seventh in the Big Ten with a 5-4 conference record. Despite the mediocre record, the Golden Gophers took some top teams down to the wire. They lost to the Penn State Nittany Lions, a certain College Football Playoff team, by one point just weeks after a 27-24 loss to the Michigan Wolverines.

Thanks to Miami’s 42-38 loss to Syracuse on Saturday, Smith thinks the SMU Mustangs will be the only ACC representative in the 12-team playoff bracket.

Duke wide receiver earns annual ACC award after bounceback season

The Duke Blue Devils surpassed expectations on the football field in 2024, and one offensive star earned a conference award for his efforts.

Duke football fans would have been forgiven for having tempered expectations for fifth-year wideout [autotag]Eli Pancol[/autotag] in 2024.

After Pancol stacked 565 yards and five touchdowns in his first three collegiate seasons, he missed the last four regular-season games in 2022 and the entire 2023 campaign with two separate ankle injuries.

In his final season with the program, however, Pancol paced the Blue Devils with 55 receptions and nine receiving touchdowns. He surpassed 100 yards twice this year, including a 188-yard performance against Virginia Tech that featured three trips to the end zone in Week 13.

He earned ACC Receiver of the Week honors for that game against the Hokies, and he took home another conference accolade on Monday when the ACC named him the recipient of the 2024 Brian Piccolo Award.

The award, given to the conference’s most courageous player, has been given out each year since 1970, but Pancol is the first Blue Devil honored since it was given to defensive lineman Scott Youmans in 1993.

That monster night against Virginia Tech came in Pancol’s final game at Wallace Wade Stadium, and he offered a small glimpse into his appreciation for this season on the ACC Network show “ACC Huddle” after the win.

“Seriously, it felt like a dream come true,” Pancol said. “Someone asked me out there, ‘What’d that feel like?’, it felt like a dream come true. I prayed for this.”

Through Week 14 of the college football season, Pancol is one of four ACC receivers with at least 50 receptions, 700 yards, and nine touchdowns. Only 25 wideouts across the entire country have matched that trifecta thus far.

College basketball analyst keeps Duke Blue Devils within top 10 in updated power rankings

Despite two losses already on their resume this season, the Duke Blue Devils stuck within the top 10 in Andy Katz’s weekly power rankings.

The Duke men’s basketball team and its fans probably hoped for a perfect start to the 2024-25 season, but two losses against the Blue Devils’ early schedule isn’t disqualifying by any means. College basketball analyst Andy Katz certainly feels that way as he kept Duke eighth in his updated Power 37 rankings on Monday.

Duke’s two neutral-site losses came by five points to the Kentucky Wildcats and by three points to the Kansas Jayhawks, two powerhouse programs that remain undefeated so far this season. The Blue Devils sat tied with Kentucky and one point behind Kansas with 20 seconds left on the clock, only falling thanks to some late turnovers from their freshman starters.

“The Blue Devils are close to finishing off elite teams and will get another test this week,” Katz wrote.

Katz put the Jayhawks second and the Wildcats fifth in his rankings.

The upcoming chance Katz referred to won’t be any easier, however. The Auburn Tigers come to Durham for a Wednesday night game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and they actually jumped Kansas for Katz’s top overall spot after the Maui Invitational last week. Through their first seven games, the Tigers have stacked wins against the Houston Cougars, Iowa State Cyclones, North Carolina Tar Heels, and Memphis Tigers.

Duke women’s basketball star Reigan Richardson named ACC Co-Player of the Week

Duke star Reigan Richardson earned ACC Co-Player of the Week honors on Monday after her 35-point game against Oklahoma.

Duke women’s basketball star [autotag]Reigan Richardson[/autotag] put forth one of the best performances in the program’s recent history last Wednesday, dropping 35 points against the then-No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners team in the Ball Dawgs Classic title game, and she picked up an ACC accolade for the effort.

The conference named her ACC Co-Player of the Week on Monday, splitting the honor between Richardson and Florida State Seminoles guard Ta’Niya Latson.

Richardson, the team’s leading scorer last season, scored 16 points against then-No. 9 Kansas State in the first round of that same tournament before tacking on 19 more against Columbia on Sunday. She averaged 23.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.8 assists between the three games while making 53.8% of her attempts and 50% of her 3-point looks.

The former Georgia Bulldog is no stranger to great performances on big stages for the Blue Devils. She scored 26.5 points per game between Duke’s first two NCAA Tournament bouts last season, including a 28-point effort in the team’s second-round upset of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Through nine games to start her senior season, the North Carolina native has put up 15.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game while helping the Blue Devils to an 8-1 record. She’s connected on 42.9% of her triples, a marked improvement on her 30.2% clip from distance a season ago.

Duke’s Cameron Bergeron named ACC Linebacker of the Week after Wake Forest win

Duke linebacker Cameron Bergeron racked up an ACC award after his strong showing against Wake Forest on Saturday.

Duke linebacker Cameron Bergeron has played a key role in the Blue Devils’ defensive success in 2024, and the Georgia native earned some recognition for his work on Monday.

Bergeron was named the ACC Linebacker of the Week after he finished Saturday’s game against Wake Forest with nine tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble. The Blue Devils fell behind 17-3 early in the third quarter, but Bergeron and his teammates held the Demon Deacons scoreless over the final quarter-and-a-half to let the offense claw back into the game.

After only recording 17 total tackles over the previous three seasons, Bergeron racked up 75 during the 2024 regular season with 8.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. He forced two fumbles and even intercepted a pass against SMU in Week 9.

Saturday was Bergeron’s fifth game of the season with at least eight total tackles, including a season-high 10 against Virginia Tech in Week 13, and recorded multiple tackles for loss in three of the team’s first four games this year.

Duke basketball breaks into the top 10 of the AP Poll before Auburn game

Before Wednesday’s clash with Auburn, the Duke Blue Devils jumped back into the top 10 in the latest AP Poll on Monday.

The Associated Press released its updated AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll on Monday, and the Duke Blue Devils jumped up two spots to No. 9 as the highest-ranked two-loss team.

Despite a 75-72 loss to the Kansas Jayhawks last Tuesday, Duke’s 941 votes in this week’s poll helped them leapfrog the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Jayhawks held onto the No. 1 overall spot by a thread, but the Blue Devils’ upcoming opponent made up quite a bit of ground. The Auburn Tigers picked up 26 first-place votes after they defeated the Iowa State Cyclones, North Carolina Tar Heels, and Memphis Tigers in three consecutive games to win the Maui Invitational.

Duke hosts Auburn at Cameron Indoor Stadium this coming Wednesday, giving the Blue Devils a chance at their second top-25 win of the season.

Two other SEC schools, the Tennessee Volunteers and Kentucky Wildcats, followed suit in third and fourth. The Connecticut Huskies, two-time defending national champions, tumbled all the way down to 25th after three straight losses in Maui, and the 4-3 Tar Heels slipped down to 20th.

Duke basketball rises one spot in USA TODAY Sports coaches poll despite Kansas loss

The voters in the USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll didn’t punish the Duke Blue Devils for their 75-72 loss to No. 1 Kansas.

The Duke men’s basketball team lost its second game of the season last Tuesday, a 75-72 neutral-site loss to No. 1 Kansas, but coaches around the country didn’t seem particularly concerned with the performance.

The Blue Devils rose one spot to No. 9 in the USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll on Monday, making them both the highest-ranked ACC team and the highest two-loss team in the standings.

The Jayhawks, still undefeated after they held off [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates down the stretch, maintained their hold atop the board with 19 first-place votes. However, after wins over the Iowa State Cyclones and North Carolina Tar Heels in Maui, the Auburn Tigers earned 12 first-place votes to close ground on Kansas.

Auburn, of course, comes to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Wednesday for Duke’s fourth top-25 opponent in six games. The Blue Devils are 1-2 in ranked battles so far this season, but they’re 4-0 at home and haven’t won a game in Durham by fewer than 22 points.

The Tennessee Volunteers, Marquette Golden Eagles, and Iowa State Cyclones followed Auburn within the top five. The Tar Heels, with two losses in Maui to drop down to 4-3 for the year, nearly dropped from the rankings at No. 22.

Check out the complete USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll below.

Rank Team Record Points
1 Kansas 7-0 760 (19)
2 Auburn 7-0 755 (12)
3 Tennessee 7-0 694
4 Marquette 8-0 646
5 Iowa State 5-1 629
6 Kentucky 7-0 628
7 Purdue 7-1 535
8 Gonzaga 7-1 517
9 Duke 5-2 472
10 Oregon 8-0 457
11 Wisconsin 8-0 450
12 Alabama 6-2 441
13 Florida 8-0 427
14 Cincinnati 6-0 376
15 Memphis 6-1 265
16 Baylor 5-2 262
17 Illinois 6-1 234
18 Houston 4-3 221
19 Pittsburgh 7-1 213
20 Ole Miss 6-1 139
21 Oklahoma 7-0 111
22 North Carolina 4-3 96
23 Michigan 6-1 90
24 Texas A&M 6-2 86
25 Michigan State 6-2 73

Dropped Out

No. 2 UConn; No. 15 Indiana; No. 19 Creighton; No. 21 Arkansas; No. 22 Xavier; No. 23 Arizona

Receiving Votes

UConn 63; San Diego State 56; Texas 54; Mississippi State 39; Arizona State 39; Drake 34; Texas Tech 32; Arkansas 28; UCLA 17; Xavier 16; BYU 16; Ohio State 15; Utah State 13; Saint Mary’s 12; Dayton 10; St. John’s 8; Nebraska 8; Indiana 8; Creighton 8; West Virginia 5; Maryland 5; Clemson 5; Georgia 3; Arizona 2; UC Irvine 1; Nevada 1