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1973 Duke

2–⁠8–⁠1 (1–⁠4–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Mike McGee.

Schedule and results

Duke in 1973, game by game: lost at No. 9 Tennessee 17–21; won vs. Washington 23–21; lost at Virginia 3–7; lost at Purdue 7–27; lost vs. No. 18 Tulane 17–24; lost vs. Clemson 8–24; lost vs. Maryland 10–30; lost at Georgia Tech 10–12; tied at Wake Forest 7–7; lost vs. No. 20 NC State 3–21; won vs. North Carolina 27–10+17−20Lost 17–21 at No. 9 Tennessee-4No. 9 TennesseeWon 23–21 vs. Washington+2WashingtonLost 3–7 at Virginia-4VirginiaLost 7–27 at Purdue-20PurdueLost 17–24 vs. No. 18 Tulane-7No. 18 TulaneLost 8–24 vs. Clemson-16ClemsonLost 10–30 vs. Maryland-20MarylandLost 10–12 at Georgia Tech-2Georgia TechTied 7–7 at Wake Forest0Wake ForestLost 3–21 vs. No. 20 NC State-18No. 20 NC StateWon 27–10 vs. North Carolina+17North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 15at9TennesseeL 17–⁠2120%
Sep 22vsWashingtonW 23–⁠2151%
Sep 29atVirginiaL 3–⁠758%
Oct 6atPurdueL 7–⁠2741%
Oct 13vs18TulaneL 17–⁠2443%
Oct 20vsClemsonL 8–⁠2463%
Oct 27vsMarylandL 10–⁠3031%
Nov 3atGeorgia TechL 10–⁠1229%
Nov 10atWake ForestT 7–⁠757%
Nov 17vs20NC StateL 3–⁠2125%
Nov 24vsNorth CarolinaW 27–⁠1039%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat North Carolina 27–⁠10; unranked in the final AP poll; 5th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 81st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 108 on file).

Record
2–⁠8–⁠1
Conference
1–⁠4–⁠1 5th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
132–⁠204
Coach
Mike McGee
Elo
1398 −95 this season
SP+ rating
-13.0 No. 100 of 123; offense No. 117, defense No. 56
SRS
−4.3 No. 77 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Jerry McGee
Captains
Mark Johnson, John Ricca and Keith Stoneback
Most valuable player
Keith Stoneback

All-ACC

3 first team

First team

  • John RiccaL
  • Ernie ClarkL
  • Keith StonebackLB

From Wikipedia’s 1973 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1973 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
NC State6–⁠09–⁠316
Maryland5–⁠18–⁠420
Clemson4–⁠25–⁠6
Virginia3–⁠34–⁠7
Duke1–⁠4–⁠12–⁠8–⁠1
North Carolina1–⁠54–⁠7
Wake Forest0–⁠5–⁠11–⁠9–⁠1

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