We get some live game action today at 1pm on accnx (not sure how to watch that) go duke!

*figured out how to watch it! I’ll update while I can watch but going to a pumpkin patch so will miss most of it live

Oh good, another Friday night game!

Duke emerges from its off week with one day shorter rest than normal, given the Blue Devils play host to scuffling FSU on Friday night this week.

There will be full coverage here as the Blue Devils can knock a lot of things off the season goals list this week. A sixth win would lock up bowl eligibility in the middle of October; a win would mean a bounce-back game after losing at GT before the off week; Duke can beat FSU for the first time in program history; and come on, wouldn't it be hilarious if Duke notched a win over one of the ACC's malcontents? It's the only shot they've got, since Clemson isn't on the schedule this year.

The programming note is I'll be at Friday night's game with full coverage.

Those mid-term PFF grades will be posting early this week -- offense on Monday, defense on Tuesday. I'll link up the grades in this thread.

(For the record: I'll complain about Friday night games but truth of the matter is, they're going to be played, the TV money and exposure outweighs the drawbacks of not being able to get many recruits to the games, and most fans of a college team are going to watch their team instead of going to a local high school game. So, every program that isn't a blue blood is going to play in these games.)

It's time to get rid of Will Smith. And I think Snitker too if he keeps going to Smith. It's clear Smith should not be our closer. This has been torturous to watch as a fan. Thank God for Max Fried with the shutout. Braves are hanging on to this division lead by the skin of their teeth. Snit continuing to return time and time again to Will Smith has me fuming though.

It's two days away from the football opener, roughly two months away from the basketball opener -- so what better time than to start a thread for Duke's baseball season?

This can serve as the thread for Duke's fall ball, preseason and in-season, one-stop shop for Duke baseball discussion.

Also, not that you need my permission, but feel free to discuss former Duke players here, anything college-baseball related, etc.

Getting this up a day early to promote a podcast.

Might as well throw in the obvious programming note: I'll be at the game with full coverage. (Super Bowl, Part II for me)

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From the sound of it he will be making his decision the first couple of days in November. He will be deciding between Duke, Texas and Louisville. Hopefully he will be the next great to join the brotherhood.

I was more impressed with the defensive output .

I liked how Evans did not show boat. He made a shot and got back on defense.

This was a scrimmage but I liked the effort on defense .

Not sure I’m sold on the Knup hype as he appeared to be what we thought which is a shooter but it is a scrimmage .

Man Man is lively part two except without the preseason injury.

The transfers will contribute but a lot will be from the experience of the college level .

Fosters free throws are still the same but he looks more confident as does Proctor.

I’m ready to see this team against an opponent but there will be a learning curve . The defense capabilities are surely there.

Just saw it on my Twitter timeline. Don't know much other than what I saw which was stage 4 lung cancer. So young to pass away at 23. RIP Tylee and prayers to the UNC family.

Eff cancer.

Within the hour of the Boozer twins committing, let's look at how next season's roster shapes up.

As a reminder, the top post of this thread will be updated throughout the season. We might go several weeks during the season without an update, but this will be invaluable in the spring when you're thinking about what next year's roster will look like.

Guaranteed departures
Mason Gillis (eligibility)
Sion James (eligibility)
Cooper Flagg (NBA)
Khaman Maluach (NBA)
Kon Knueppel (NBA)
Spencer Hubbard (eligibility)
Stanley Borden (eligibility)
Neal Begovich (eligibility)

Almost-certain departure(s)
...

On-the-fence for now
Tyrese Proctor (NBA)
Caleb Foster (NBA)

**********

Returners (year for 2025-26)
Maliq Brown (Senior)
Darren Harris (Sophomore)
Isaiah Evans (Sophomore)
Patrick Ngongba II (Sophomore)
Cameron Sheffield (Senior)

Incoming freshmen (Rivals150 rank)
Cameron Boozer (2), Wing/forward
Shelton Henderson (12), Guard/wing
Cayden Boozer (23), Guard
Nikolas Khamenia (36), Wing/forward

Incoming transfers
???

Other than some mentions on the Lounge, which of course always become vitriolic and political, it seems we have forgotten our brothers and sisters impacted by these twin disasters. My family suffered damages from both storms in Georgia, but I feel completely blessed compared to those poor folks in western NC and Tenn.
My prayers are for any of you who were affected as well, and encourage you to help others, even strangers, in any way you can.
OFC

There's such an emphasis these days on people in sports media celebrating their correct predictions -- it's self-serving and narcissistic but it's also the most direct way to tell readers/subscribers, "Hey, look, I was right, I know what I'm talking about!"

It annoys me and I try to avoid it ... but I'm not batting 1.000. And this is going to lower my average.

The other side of this is, to borrow phrasing from Duke’s former men’s basketball coach, the Blue Devils are coming to the end of an energy cycle.

Duke’s grind of fall camp bled into six straight game weeks. Three of those were on the road and this will be the fourth night game — and keep in mind, that’s not counting the Middle Tennessee game that took about five hours because of a weather delay.

There would be a human-nature element of looking forward to getting rest on the other side of this game, which is why Duke is battling some human nature along with the Yellow Jackets.

“I do think our guys have shown maturity this week in how they’ve done it,” Diaz said. “Now, ultimately we’ve gotta go play like it on Saturday.”

Click to expand...

Those were the last 4 paragraphs from the preview for the GT game. There was obviously a difference in how Duke prepared to play last week and what happened last night. To me, the offensive struggles are a concern, but my biggest takeaway remains that Duke just ran out of gas. It's not an excuse, they shouldn't be let off the hook for losing what was a winnable game; but you can only do so much to combat human nature.

Duke's first off week comes at a great time. Based on last night, the Blue Devils need rest more than anything else. They'll take this week off and come back against a sputtering FSU team on Oct. 18.

We'll still have some coverage this week -- albeit, basketball media day is in Charlotte in the middle of the week and the Boozers are announcing, so hoops will have some priority. I'll have PFF grades of last night's game on the game thread tomorrow, and sometime later in the week I'll put some PFF mid-term grades in this thread.

ICYMI: Game story on last night's loss at GT.

So under the Duke Hoops Open Forum, it says, in small print “Discuss your three time national champions here with fellow Duke fans”. So, this apparently has been there since at least 2009, or did we forfeit 2 of our Nattys? How in the world has this gone undetected?

OFC

Get it on record

Games of note-

Kentucky
At Arizona
Kansas
Auburn
Illinois

UNCx2
At Clemson


I think we end up with 4 L’s- 1 out of the top group
1 out of UNC,Clemson- 2 randoms and win it all

Welcome to another week of enjoying coverage of an undefeated Duke team.

I'm not sure how, and it wasn't without UNC's help, but the Blue Devils are 5-0 and won their ACC opener. The Victory Bell stays in Durham after two narrow losses over the last two years. Duke doesn't play the most astatically pleasing football ... but as one of my favorite golf phrases goes, "there's no room for comments on the scorecard."

(or, in this case, I guess the of that would be "in the standings.")

Anyway, Duke moves on to face a Georgia Tech team that got everybody's attention with the Week 0 win over FSU in Ireland. GT has lost twice though, both on the road in ACC games, at Syracuse and Louisville. As a programming note: I'm going to Atlanta twice in the next 2 1/2 months ... but will have remote coverage for this one. CTC is Friday night and Wake Forest plays in Raleigh at noon, if you're interested in the logic there.

To get yall caught up on some links before the PFF grades from the UNC game are posted -- coming Monday morning on that game's thread -- here you go:

Feature from last week on Duke's aggressive defense.

Buzzer story from the comeback win.

Feature on Duke "taking teams to the sewer."

Anybody have any info on getting to attend?

Hey guys,
Isn’t there another good store on or near campus that has more than what the shop does right across from Cameron?
Any help would be appreciated. Looking for a nice 1/4 zip or golf polo.

Hey I have an extra ticket section 7 row J

Let me know if interested. I have it in my Apple wallet so will have to meet you at event as it won’t let me transfer

And we come to the real meat of Duke's schedule.

Duke is 4-0, all wins in non-conference games, and has seen just about all you can see in 4 games. There's been a double-OT game, a weather delay, a fourth-quarter comeback ... whatever the Elon game was. A weird start but, as the cliche goes, 4-0 is the best you can be after four games.

This will be the insider thread for this week's game against UNC. The PFF grades from Saturday's game at Middle Tennessee will be posted in the MT game thread; otherwise, all coverage for this weekend will be linked up in here. We'll have the recruiting list in here ... probably Thursday, maybe Friday. Given it's a UNC game and actually a Saturday game, I'd expect it to be quite a lengthy and star-studded list (but, mostly of 26s and 27s, since Duke's '25 class if pretty much wrapped).

Duke opened as a 3.5-point favorite on FanDuel, for whatever that's worth. Here are some links to get you up to speed:

Preview of the Middle Tennessee game.

Feature on Duke's improved rushing attack | Feature on Que'Sean Brown

Story off the Middle Tennessee game.

Game 1 tonight, tip off slated for 8:30pm ET/7:30pm CT.

1) Who does everyone have tonight and by how much?
2) Who does everyone have winning the championship and in how many games?
3) Who wins Finals MVP?

I am going with

1) Celtics by 5 tonight
2) Celtics win the series in 6 games
3) Tatum is named Finals MVP

So we have an early nominee for the “Freshman We Never Get to See Before He Leaves” in Patrick Ngongba, out indefinitely with a foot injury. Unreal. And just after we had all figured out what the PT was going to look like. Now we have to start over.

OFC

It’s time for this world famous thread.. if we add more pieces it’ll be practice type guys so I think we know who will be playing.. LETS GO

Proctor-30
Foster-25
Flagg-35
Brown-25
Maluach-25


Sion-20
Evans-15
Kon-10
Gillis-10

Ngongba-5
Harris-blowout mins or redshirt

Tickets went up today! I got 4nosebleed seats for about 660 but that’s ok I’ll be there. Anyone else get in?