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1961 Duke

7–⁠3 (5–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Bill Murray, finished No. 20 in the AP poll.

Team portrait from 1962 Chanticleer
Team portrait from 1962 ChanticleerPhoto: not named, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Schedule and results

Duke in 1961, game by game: won at South Carolina 7–6; won at Virginia 42–0; won vs. Wake Forest 23–3; lost at Georgia Tech 0–21; lost vs. Clemson 7–17; won at NC State 17–6; lost at Michigan 14–28; won vs. Navy 30–9; won vs. North Carolina 6–3; won vs. Notre Dame 37–13+42−21Won 7–6 at South Carolina+1South CarolinaWon 42–0 at Virginia+42VirginiaWon 23–3 vs. Wake Forest+20Wake ForestLost 0–21 at Georgia Tech-21Georgia TechLost 7–17 vs. Clemson-10ClemsonWon 17–6 at NC State+11NC StateLost 14–28 at Michigan-14MichiganWon 30–9 vs. Navy+21NavyWon 6–3 vs. North Carolina+3North CarolinaWon 37–13 vs. Notre Dame+24Notre Dame
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 23atSouth CarolinaW 7–⁠657%
Sep 30atVirginiaW 42–⁠075%
Oct 7vsWake ForestW 23–⁠381%
Oct 14atGeorgia TechL 0–⁠2145%
Oct 21vsClemsonL 7–⁠1763%
Oct 28atNC StateW 17–⁠650%
Nov 4atMichiganL 14–⁠2845%
Nov 11vsNavyW 30–⁠937%
Nov 18vsNorth CarolinaW 6–⁠372%
Dec 2vsNotre DameW 37–⁠1367%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Notre Dame 37–⁠13; No. 20 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 19th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 108 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Final: 20

Atlantic Coast Conference champions5–⁠1 in the conference

Record
7–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠1 first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 20 peak No. 20
Points
183–⁠106
Coach
Bill Murray
Elo
1611 +44 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
14.1 No. 18 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Jack Wilson
Most valuable player
Dean Wright

All-ACC

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Art GregoryOTAP-1; UPI-1; ACSWA-1
  • Jean BerryOGAP-1; UPI-1; ACSWA-1

Second team

  • Mark LeggettBUPI-2; AP-2
  • Walt RappoldBAP-2; UPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1961 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1961 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Duke5–⁠17–⁠320
North Carolina4–⁠35–⁠5
Maryland3–⁠37–⁠3
Clemson3–⁠35–⁠5
South Carolina3–⁠44–⁠6
Wake Forest3–⁠44–⁠6
NC State3–⁠44–⁠6
Virginia2–⁠44–⁠6

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.