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1986 Duke

4–⁠7 (2–⁠5 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Steve Sloan.

Schedule and results

Duke in 1986, game by game: won at Northwestern 17–6; lost at No. 19 Georgia 7–31; won vs. Ohio 22–7; won vs. Virginia 20–13; lost at Vanderbilt 18–24; lost at No. 17 Clemson 3–35; lost vs. Maryland 19–27; lost at Georgia Tech 6–34; won vs. Wake Forest 38–36; lost at NC State 15–29; lost vs. North Carolina 35–42+15−32Won 17–6 at Northwestern+11NorthwesternLost 7–31 at No. 19 Georgia-24No. 19 GeorgiaWon 22–7 vs. Ohio+15OhioWon 20–13 vs. Virginia+7VirginiaLost 18–24 at Vanderbilt-6VanderbiltLost 3–35 at No. 17 Clemson-32No. 17 ClemsonLost 19–27 vs. Maryland-8MarylandLost 6–34 at Georgia Tech-28Georgia TechWon 38–36 vs. Wake Forest+2Wake ForestLost 15–29 at NC State-14NC StateLost 35–42 vs. North Carolina-7North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6atNorthwesternW 17–⁠649%
Sep 13at19GeorgiaL 7–⁠3123%
Sep 20vsOhioW 22–⁠771%
Sep 27vsVirginiaW 20–⁠1351%
Oct 4atVanderbiltL 18–⁠2456%
Oct 18at17ClemsonL 3–⁠3522%
Oct 25vsMarylandL 19–⁠2738%
Nov 1atGeorgia TechL 6–⁠3423%
Nov 8vsWake ForestW 38–⁠3648%
Nov 15atNC StateL 15–⁠2930%
Nov 22vsNorth CarolinaL 35–⁠4237%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to North Carolina 42–⁠35; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 84th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 108 on file).

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
2–⁠5 tied for 6th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
200–⁠284
Coach
Steve Sloan
Elo
1385 −38 this season
SP+ rating
-12.5 No. 83 of 101; offense No. 80, defense No. 78
SRS
−6.8 No. 73 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Tommy Bowden
Defensive coordinator
Richard Bell
Captains
Paul Constantino and Mike Junkin
Most valuable player
Mike Junkin

Drafted in 1987

The 1987 draft
Rd 1Mike Junkin LBCleveland Browns

All-ACC

1 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1986 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1986 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Clemson5–⁠1–⁠18–⁠2–⁠217
NC State5–⁠28–⁠3–⁠1
North Carolina5–⁠27–⁠4–⁠1
Georgia Tech3–⁠35–⁠5–⁠1
Maryland2–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Wake Forest2–⁠55–⁠6
Duke2–⁠54–⁠7
Virginia2–⁠53–⁠8

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