Ranking The ACC Coastal Division Teams: Duke

One thing can be said about the Duke football program. There is nowhere to go but up. After a 0-12 season in 2006, the Duke Blue Devils will open their season with Connecticut which is a decent team. Their road schedule includes Northwestern, Navy, Miami, and Florida State. After playing Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Clemson and Georgia Tech at home, they end their season with games at Notre Dame and North Carolina. Ouch!

Head coach Ted Roof in his fourth year with a 5-34 cumulative record will definitely be on the hot seat this year. It was so bad after last season that Duke held a "Duke Football Summit" with former alumni and others to try and breathe life into the program.

Duke has had some off the field problems and had suspended junior linebacker Michael Tauiliili indefinitely for violating team policy. This past week, Duke reinstated Tauiliili who had been arrested for gun and driving while impaired charges. He will be suspended for the UConn game,

Duke has forty-four returning lettermen and lost sixteen. They will have an experienced offensive line and a returning QB that should provide some help. Duke also has a new offensive coordinator and Roof has promised that his offense will be wide-open. According to Roof, "we're going to be aggressive in throwing the football down the field."

So what is the prediction for this bastion of academia? Don't expect the Blue Devils to do a "Wake Forest" on the ACC Coastal Division. They may win one or two games this year. Maybe.

FSU It's Time Ranking Prediction: I am going to go out on a limb and predict Duke at #6 in the Coastal Division.