Duke Makes All-Time Top 100 College Football Programs
By Chris Brown
The Associated Press recently released their most recent list of the Top 100 best college football teams of all-time. Where did Duke Football rank?
The AP recently released a list of the Top 100 best teams in college football of all time. Duke Football made the list, and were ranked as the 53rd best college football program in NCAA history.
Related Story: Duke Makes Appearance in 2015 Top 25 College Football Games
The Associated Press based their all-time college football team rankings on NCAA poll appearances, number of #1 rankings, and championships since the AP began college football rankings in 1936. Even though Duke was among the worst in the NCAA for a long stretch, the football program’s recent bowl game streak and past success helped the Blue Devils earn a spot among the Top 100 college football programs.
Live Feed
With the First Pick
Duke has historically been a great college football program. Some of the past storied highlights include Wallace Wade leaving Alabama to take over the Blue Devils and lead them to seven Southern Conference championships and two Rose Bowl appearances in 1939 and 1942 (the only Rose Bowl not played in Pasadena, CA). Former coaches Eddie Cameron led Duke to a Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama in 1945 while doubling as the basketball coach and Bill Murray helped the Blue Devils win 7 ACC Championships, the 1955 Orange Bowl, and the 1961 Cotton Bowl. The Blue Devils would then mostly struggle until Steve Spurrier took over in 1987 and led the Blue Devils to the 1989 ACC Championship and appeared in the 1989 All-American Bowl after a 28 year postseason absence.
More recently, Duke has vastly improved since head coach David Cutcliffe took over in 2008. The Blue Devils are coming off their fourth consecutive bowl game appearing in the 2012 Belk Bowl, 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl, 2014 Sun Bowl, and the 2015 Pinstripe Bowl where they recorded the program’s first postseason win since 1961.
More from Duke Football
- Duke football: Riley Leonard denied homework extension from professor
- Duke football lands in AP Top-25 after shocking rout of No. 9 Clemson
- Duke football pulls off epic field storming after upset against No. 9 Clemson
- Duke football shocks No. 9 Clemson on national television in stunning rout
- Duke football: Dabo Swinney already complaining about playing in Durham
Cutcliffe also led Duke to the 2013 ACC Coastal Division Championship finishing with a 10-2 regular season record including eight wins in a row, making an appearance in the conference championship game against Florida State, and finishing the season ranked #23 in the final AP poll. The recent success under Cutcliffe has also had many other impacts on the football program at Duke, including vast improvements in recruiting, more national exposure, and a newly renovated football stadium.
Duke Football will kick off the 2016 season with the Bull City Gridiron Classic hosting cross-town North Carolina Central University on September 3rd at 6 pm. Even though the Blue Devils are projected to have a down year, the coaches, players, and fans all have very high expectations for the team this year coming off the Pinstripe Bowl victory.