Duke football receives votes in AP and Coaches polls

After Duke's stunning 13-10 upset against No. 16 Virginia Tech yesterday, college football pollsters are taking notice.

The Blue Devils (6-2, 2-2 in the ACC) received two votes in this week's AP Poll, putting them 12 spots out of the top 25. Duke also received eight points in this week's USA Today Coaches Poll, sitting just eight places out of the top 25.

"I'm a believer in expectations. When you go into certain circumstances when the expectations are extreme, I'm a believe that there's a lot of times that the performance can be extreme," Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said. "I think it's critical that you create expectations. I want to see how we handle the expectations of November and the pressure, and we're either going to do it really well or we're not—there won't be any in between."

After yesterday's loss, the Hokies—previously ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll and No. 19 in the Coaches Poll—dropped out of the top 25. Virginia Tech still received the second-most votes for an unranked team in the Coaches Poll, garnering 53 points and sat six spots out of the top 25 in the AP Poll with 20 votes.

The last time Duke received votes in college football polls was Oct. 7, 2012, when the Blue Devils jumped out to a 5-1 start after a win against Virginia.

Cutcliffe is one of the 62 FBS coaches that votes on this year's panel as his former Blue Devil head coach Steve Spurrier, who famously would always cast a vote for Duke at the beginning of each season.

By defeating Virginia Tech yesterday, the Blue Devils will go to a bowl game in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history. It was Duke's first win against a ranked opponent since 1994 and the team's first road win against a ranked team since 1971.

"You certainly hope you have a program that when people arrive, ultimately, they expect to win," Cutcliffe said. "They came here because they want to win. That's one of my dreams. I certainly want them to come because of the quality of the program.... I want really good football players to come to Duke because they expect win and want to win and want to join a winning program."

This week's AP Poll featured three top-25 teams from the ACC. Florida State will enter next week ranked third in the country, Miami is ranked No. 7 and Clemson comes in at No. 9. Arizona State is the last team ranked in the top 25 with 133 votes.

The ACC had three teams ranked in the Coaches Poll, all of which reside in the top 10. Florida State held tight at No. 3 this week, Miami remained at No. 6 and Clemson jumped up two spots to No. 8 in the nation. Notre Dame sits at No. 25 in the country, receiving 83 points this week.