2018 Duke Blue Devils Season Win Total Picks and Predictions for NCAA Football
2017 Record: 7-6
2018 Las Vegas Season Win Total: 6.0
2018 Season Win Total Picks NCAA Football: 'Under'
When people talk about the best college football coaches in the country, I'm sure a lot of names come up before people get to David Cutcliffe. But this guy might be the most underrated coach in the country, and he has done a phenomenal job building up a Duke program that had been a laughingstock prior to his arrival.
A lot of things are in flux this year in the ACC. Clemson is by far the best team. Miami and Florida State are competitors with loads of talent. But there are a lot of new coaches, new quarterbacks, and the just about everyone in the league has experienced an overall talent drain. Everyone, that is, except for Cutcliffe and the Blue Devils.
Cutcliffe is entering his 11th season, and this year he has 15 returning starters from a squad that finished above .500 for the fourth time in five years. Also, the Coastal Division has been the more unpredictable of the two in the ACC. Five different schools have represented the Coastal in the ACC title game over the last five years. So it's not beyond the realm of possibility that Duke could make a run this fall.
Dan Jones is entering his third year as starting quarterback. His play regressed last year. But if he regains his accuracy - and stops turning the ball over - he could break out. Jones has his top two targets back in crafty four-year starter T.J. Rahming and three-year starter John Lloyd. Throw in seniors Chris Taylor and burly Dan Helm, and the passing game should be vastly improved.
As long as the offensive line, with three new starters, gels then this offense should average more than 30 points per game.
Defensively, the Blue Devils have eight starters back from the best stop unit they've fielded this decade. Duke has six of its top seven - and 17 of its top 20 - tacklers back from a team that was in the Top 25 in scoring defense, total defense and pass defense in 2017.
The schedule does pose all kinds of problems, though. It starts with two tricky nonconference road games at Northwestern and at Baylor in back-to-back weeks. Those two programs are both down a bit this season. But Duke isn't that overwhelmingly talented that we can just pencil in road wins against major conference opponents.
The Blue Devils also have to travel to Miami and Clemson. I don't see them winning either of those.
But the rest of the slate is manageable. If they can split with Northwestern and Baylor then they will pick up three nonconference wins. They host Virginia, North Carolina and Wake Forest, and I think the Blue Devils will win those three games as well. That means that it will take just one more victory - vs. Virginia Tech, at Georgia Tech or at Pittsburgh - for Duke to cash this ticket. I think this one offers great value, and I have Duke playing 'over'.
Robert Ferringo has been the top football handicapper in the country the past seven years, earning nearly $28,000 in total football profit. He has also posted seven of nine winning seasons (including back-to-back winning years) and produced 26 of 41 winning football months and an amazing 45 of 70 winning football months over the past decade. Robert has eight of 10 winning NFL preseasons and he is at nearly 60 percent winners over his last 900 totals picks. Also, Robert's proprietary KING College Football Betting System has posted three of five winning seasons. Robert is looking for a third straight winning football year and wants more profit this fall. SIGN UP HERE TODAY AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR 3-FOR-1 FOOTBALL SPECIALS!
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