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1976 Duke

5–⁠5–⁠1 (2–⁠3–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Mike McGee.

Schedule and results

Duke in 1976, game by game: won at Tennessee 21–18; lost at South Carolina 6–24; won at Virginia 21–6; lost vs. No. 2 Pittsburgh 31–44; won at Miami 20–7; tied at Clemson 18–18; lost vs. No. 6 Maryland 3–30; won vs. Georgia Tech 31–7; lost vs. Wake Forest 17–38; won at NC State 28–14; lost at North Carolina 38–39+24−27Won 21–18 at Tennessee+3TennesseeLost 6–24 at South Carolina-18South CarolinaWon 21–6 at Virginia+15VirginiaLost 31–44 vs. No. 2 Pittsburgh-13No. 2 PittsburghWon 20–7 at Miami+13MiamiTied 18–18 at Clemson0ClemsonLost 3–30 vs. No. 6 Maryland-27No. 6 MarylandWon 31–7 vs. Georgia Tech+24Georgia TechLost 17–38 vs. Wake Forest-21Wake ForestWon 28–14 at NC State+14NC StateLost 38–39 at North Carolina-1North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11atTennesseeW 21–⁠1834%
Sep 18atSouth CarolinaL 6–⁠2438%
Sep 25atVirginiaW 21–⁠670%
Oct 2vs2PittsburghL 31–⁠4434%
Oct 9atMiamiW 20–⁠748%
Oct 16atClemsonT 18–⁠1862%
Oct 23vs6MarylandL 3–⁠3032%
Oct 30vsGeorgia TechW 31–⁠756%
Nov 6vsWake ForestL 17–⁠3875%
Nov 13atNC StateW 28–⁠1439%
Nov 20atNorth CarolinaL 38–⁠3939%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to North Carolina 39–⁠38; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 52nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 108 on file).

Record
5–⁠5–⁠1
Conference
2–⁠3–⁠1 4th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
234–⁠245
Coach
Mike McGee
Elo
1501 +8 this season
SP+ rating
6.2 No. 53 of 132; offense No. 34, defense No. 73
SRS
6.8 No. 38 of 137 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
John Gutekunst
Captains
Tony Benjamin, Billy Bryan and Bob Grupp
Most valuable player
Billy Bryan

Drafted in 1977

The 1977 draft
Rd 4Bill Bryan CDenver Broncos
Rd 6Tony Benjamin RBSeattle Seahawks
Rd 7Bob Grupp DBNew York Jets

All-ACC

5 first team

First team

  • Tom HallWRAP
  • Billy BryanCAP
  • Carl McGeeLBAP
  • Bob GruppDBAP
  • Vince FuscoKAP

From Wikipedia’s 1976 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1976 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Maryland5–⁠011–⁠18
North Carolina4–⁠19–⁠3
Wake Forest3–⁠35–⁠6
Duke2–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
NC State2–⁠33–⁠7–⁠1
Virginia1–⁠32–⁠9
Clemson0–⁠4–⁠13–⁠6–⁠2

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