After Loss, Duke Still Gets Coaches' Poll Vote

The day after the Blue Devils lost to Georgia Tech 27-0, Duke received a vote in the coaches' poll. Again.

Last week, the mysterious coach was justified in handing the 3-1 Blue Devils a No. 25 tally. An AP voter once told us that the trick to voting is sneaking in one or two unparalleled choices: no one remembers a bad prediction, and the voter looks great if the team validates the vote. That is, if Duke had gone down to Atlanta and stomped the Yellow Jackets, it might have been ranked this week.

But a vote now? After a 27-0 loss? There are more than 25 teams better than the Blue Devils--this weekend proved that.

"Oh Lord, I don't know who would do that," head coach David Cutcliffe said Sunday.

Cutcliffe immediately suspected the coach he named last Sunday: South Carolina's Steve Spurrier, who made his name at Duke. But Spurrier told The Chronicle he wasn't the culprit last week.

"He must be in a real good mood, he beat Ole Miss yesterday, so maybe he didn't see our score," Cutcliffe said of Spurrier. "But whoever did it didn't see our score yesterday. It's much appreciated, and we'll try to live up to it next time out."

--by Ben Cohen