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Duke Football: Blue Devils knocking on the door of the latest top 25 polls

By Matt Giles

WACO, TX - SEPTEMBER 15: Duke Blue Devils head coach David Cutcliffe celebrates with fans after defeating the Baylor Bears during a football game at McLane Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
WACO, TX - SEPTEMBER 15: Duke Blue Devils head coach David Cutcliffe celebrates with fans after defeating the Baylor Bears during a football game at McLane Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) /
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It hasn’t quite happened just yet, but don’t be surprised if the Duke football team is ranked by this time next week.

When fans tune in on Sept. 29 to watch the Duke football team take on Virginia Tech — currently ranked No. 13 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and No. 10 in the Amway Coaches Poll —  there ought to also be a number that comes before the word “Duke” on their TV screens.

That number, which should be between 20 and 25, would be the ranking of the squad — currently 3-0 after its 40-27 win at Baylor on Saturday — and it would mark the first time since 2015 that the program has appeared in a poll. As of right now, however, Duke is one of the first few left out of both polls released on Sunday.

Duke received 61 votes in the AP Poll, putting it third on the list of “Others receiving votes.” In the Coaches Poll, the team received 55 votes, trailing only Kentucky on the list of those who almost broke in.

Of course, if the Blue Devils are to be ranked by next Sunday, they will first have to take care of business on Saturday at home against N.C. Central — kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. EST and can be watched on the ACC Network Extra. However, considering that Duke has outscored that other school from Durham, 164-13, across their last three meetings in the previous three seasons, adding a fourth straight win to start this season shouldn’t be much of an issue.

Also, the Blue Devils will have to count on a few teams who are currently ranked to either lose or look awful against inferior opponents. Obviously, that is out of Duke’s control.

What Duke can control, though, is its own season, and so far it looks to be on the verge of becoming one of the best in the David Cutcliffe era. The highest ranking a Cutcliffe-coached Duke team has ever achieved was No. 18 in the Coaches Poll after a 6-1 start to the 2015 season (the highest AP Poll ranking was No. 19 after an 8-1 start to the 2014 season).

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Besides Virginia Tech, there are currently three other ACC schools in the AP Top 25 — Clemson at No.3, Miami at No. 21, and Boston College at No. 23.

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