Ok, Miami is favored by 5 to 7 points in Miami.
http://www.thepredictiontracker.com/predncaa.html http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/odds/las-vegas/
Noon ESPN game.
Ok, Duke has played ****ty competition* but they have taken care of business and easily won. The only opponent adjusted stat out there I know of (before 7 games into the season) it S&P Offence at Football Outsiders. Overall, Duke is 53rd and Miami is 12th
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ncaaoff (We are 13th!)
But if you go to the raw stats, Duke is 30th and Miami is 84th in overall offense.
http://www.cfbstats.com/2014/leader/national/team/offense/split01/category10/sort01.html Shows the importance of who you play. Alabama or Alabama A&M make a difference. On defense, Miami is 22nd and Duke is 46th (See ****ty *).
Who do WE want to win?
- The advantages for us of Miami winning is it shows Duke 2013 was a fluke. Then they have a week to realize they are pretenders. That's about it.
- But Duke winning would demoralize the bullies at Miami the week before they play us and make them even less disciplined. Plus Miami has a lot more talent and could get it together so Miami is more dangerous overall. A Duke win against a real team could give them a lot of confidence.**
Probably more of a benefit for us if Duke wins since I think we will run on them all day. I think the Duke/Miami game will be a close game (less than two scores difference).
But Vegas is right 80+% of the time so it's probably Miami which really doesn't matter much.
GT has control of our destiny. Last time that happened was in 2009 when we beat VT. We lost to Miami that year (only ACC loss of the year). But that discussion is next week.
* ****ty competition is defined by Elon, Troy (away), Kansas and Tulane.
** Duke fans don't have a lot of enthusiasm. Look at how their home game attendance has gone down ... was only 20K for Tulane last week. Beating them before they get going is important.
http://www.cfbstats.com/2014/team/193/index.html