The conference needs to be better.
When it comes to the ACC, the college football world doesn't really give it much respect.
At the top of the ACC are teams like Miami and Clemson, typically, but outside of those two programs, and maybe a squad like SMU or Louisville, depending on the year, it doesn't really feel like the ACC is getting a whole lot of love. A lot of that is because programs like Florida State aren't anywhere near as good as they should be, but it's just the reality of the situation.
When it comes to Duke, that's likely part of why the Blue Devils haven't earned any respect from voters in the AP poll.
For whatever reason, a 4-0 start, strong play against decent opponents, and winning the ACC title a year ago simply aren't enough to earn a vote in the AP poll.
One writer believes it's because of the ACC, adding that because the conference is so chaotic, Duke needs to do much more than it has to get ranked.
“This season, they started unranked and thanks to a 4-0 start, are finally earning some respect from the AFCA poll, jumping up to No. 21 in their poll. AP voters on the other hand, they’re not sold on the Blue Devils just yet.
“You can’t blame the AP voters, though, because the ACC is chaotic. They have two teams ranked in the top 25 at this point after Louisville’s bad loss to Wake Forest. It’s going to take Duke more than mediocre wins against inferior non-conference opponents to convince voters they’re worth one of the top 25 spots,” Wynston Wilcox wrote.
In a way, I understand what Wilcox is trying to say, but it's not Duke's fault that the ACC isn't as good as it typically is. This Duke team deserves to be in the top 25, especially after winning the conference a season ago.
For now, Duke can't really worry about that and has to focus on taking care of business against some of the better opponents in the conference that it will play over the next couple of weeks to months.
If it can take care of business against programs like Clemson and compete with Miami, it should find itself ranked.
