The Davis Rankings

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T-28 Duke

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2-2 in ACC play, T-6th in the ACC

Up 51 spots (#79 to T-28) after a road win at #90 Virginia (19-16) in a one-score game. As expected: Duke entered with 51.5 TDR points to Virginia's 45.0. Now 5-2. TDR score +18.9: win/loss record +2.6, road-win bonus +0.9.

No awards yet this season. A sticker lands on the helmet each time this team earns one.

2026 season recap (through week 8)

Duke (ACC) is ranked T-28, tied with Louisiana Tech in The Davis Rankings after week 8 of 2026, with a record of 5-2 and a score of 70.4 out of 100. That is up 51 from week 7. That puts it in the Feeling Good tier (ranks 26-50). Its strongest factor is recent results (100.0 out of 100). Its weakest is opponent record today (57.1 out of 100).

The best win by current ranking came in week 2, 31-27 over T-53 Illinois on the road. The defeat that hurts the score most is the week 6 loss, 28-25 to #122 Georgia Tech on the road.

On the road it is 2-1. The average margin is +13.9 points per game, with a biggest win of 55 points. 4 of 7 games were decided by a touchdown or less.

Duke is not ranked in the AP, Coaches, or CFP polls this week, while the Davis Rankings has it 28th.

Next up is T-50 Boston College in week 9, at home. The toughest game left on the schedule by current rank is week 11 against #2 Miami. 2 of the 5 games left are against teams currently in the top 25.

Schedule

WeekOpponentResult
1Tulane (home)W 17-3
2Illinois (away)W 31-27
3Stanford (home, conference game)W 35-7
4William & Mary (home)W 62-7
6Georgia Tech (away, conference game)L 25-28
7North Carolina (home, conference game)L 20-24
8Virginia (away, conference game)W 19-16

Upcoming games

WeekOpponentDate
9Boston College (home, conference game) (CW, ESPN Unlmtd)
10NC State (away, conference game) (CW)
11Miami (away, conference game)Sat Nov 14, time TBD
12Clemson (home, conference game) (ESPN)
13Wake Forest (away, conference game)Sat Nov 28, time TBD

Ranking history 2026

Now #28, Feeling Good (week 8). Best #1 (week 2). Lowest #79 (week 7). Higher on the chart is a better rank. The shaded bands are rank tiers, with each tier's sticker at its left. A poll is a top 25, so its line breaks in the weeks the team is not in it. The poll lines are drawn a little apart so equal ranks do not hide each other: point at a week for the exact ranks.

TDR

Week 8 TDR #28 (70.4, 5-2) Feeling Good Coaches NR

Winning (ranks 1-25)Feeling Good (ranks 26-50)Character Building (ranks 51-75)Do We Need to Talk? (ranks 76-100)#1#25#50#7512345678WkFeeling Good (ranks 26-50)#28
Week by week
WeekTDRScoreRecordTierCoaches
1#1291.51-0-NR
2#195.12-0-NR
3#494.23-0WinningNR
4#1291.44-0Winning#21
5#1091.24-0Winning#23
6#5461.24-1Character BuildingNR
7#7951.54-2Do We Need to Talk?NR
8#2870.45-2Feeling GoodNR

Score breakdown

Each factor is scored 0–100, then weighted into the composite score. Full methodology & weights

FactorScore (0-100)
win/loss record71.4
recent results100.0
road-win bonus69.4
opponent record at game time58.1
opponent record today57.1

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