It seems every year, the Duke Blue Devils open the season with a handful of wins over bad teams and begins to get hype. Last year was no different, as they opened with wins over Army, Northwestern, Baylor and NC Central to get to 4-0 and into the polls at #22. They promptly got steamrolled at home by the Hokies and never sniffed the polls again.
Over the past five seasons, Duke is 17-6 (74%) in September (and August) and 36-28 overall (56%). They’re 16-24 (40%) in the ACC. Those early season wins are propping up poor overall campaigns.