1972 Duke

5–⁠6 (3–⁠3 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Mike McGee.

Schedule and results

Duke in 1972, game by game: lost at No. 7 Alabama 12–35; lost at No. 12 Washington 6–14; lost vs. No. 19 Stanford 6–10; won vs. Virginia 37–13; lost at NC State 0–17; won at Clemson 7–0; won vs. Maryland 20–14; won vs. Navy 17–16; won vs. Georgia Tech 20–14; lost vs. Wake Forest 7–9; lost at No. 16 North Carolina 0–14+24−23Lost 12–35 at No. 7 Alabama-23No. 7 AlabamaLost 6–14 at No. 12 Washington-8No. 12 WashingtonLost 6–10 vs. No. 19 Stanford-4No. 19 StanfordWon 37–13 vs. Virginia+24VirginiaLost 0–17 at NC State-17NC StateWon 7–0 at Clemson+7ClemsonWon 20–14 vs. Maryland+6MarylandWon 17–16 vs. Navy+1NavyWon 20–14 vs. Georgia Tech+6Georgia TechLost 7–9 vs. Wake Forest-2Wake ForestLost 0–14 at No. 16 North Carolina-14No. 16 North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to North Carolina 14–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 58th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 108 on file).

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠3 4th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
132–⁠156
Coach
Mike McGee
Elo
1490 −12 this season
SP+ rating
2.8 No. 59 of 121; offense No. 106, defense No. 16
SRS
3.8 No. 50 of 127 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Jerry McGee
Captains
Dale Grimes, Bill Hanenberg and Steve Jones
Most valuable player
Steve Jones

Drafted in 1973

The 1973 draft
Rd 5Steve Jones RBLos Angeles Rams
Rd 6Ed Newman OGMiami Dolphins

All-ACC

5 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1972 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1972 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
North Carolina6–⁠011–⁠112
NC State4–⁠1–⁠18–⁠3–⁠117
Maryland3–⁠2–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Duke3–⁠35–⁠6
Clemson2–⁠44–⁠7
Virginia1–⁠54–⁠7
Wake Forest1–⁠52–⁠9

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