<p>It’s nice to see that ring is continuing his rants on Duke sports and whatever (including, surreptitiously putting down other schools w/ no attention to the facts), glad to see so much of his self-esteem is predicated by the success of Duke sports teams (typical keyboard “jock”) - lol!</p>
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<p>Didn’t I already “school” you on the facts?</p>
<p>How can NU FB be “god awful of late” when the program has won three conf. titles since 1995 and in that span have a winning or .500 record against every team except for dOSU, PSU, UM and Purdue?</p>
<p>Furthermore, over the past 6 meetings, NU is 5-1 against both Illinois and Indiana.</p>
<p>Let’s compare the records of the two programs over the past 6 years, shall we?</p>
<p>NU - 38 wins and only ONE losing regular season when the head coach unexpectedly passed away</p>
<p>Duke - 12 wins (only 10 if you discount wins against “1-AA” teams) and w/ all 6 yrs being losing seasons.</p>
<p>As for the rest, it’s ancient history (you sound like a Pitt FB fan talking about all their national championships from the early 1900s); before the mid 1970s-1980s, NU also had a pretty decent FB program under coaches like Parsegian, but none of us where alive or cognizant to enjoy it.</p>
<p>As for the loss to Duke in 2007, yeah, that was a bad loss, but every team has that (i.e. -USC losing to Stanford).</p>
<p>Mind you, Duke just barely beat NU despite the Wildcats putting up 200 more yds of offense (and that was w/o the ‘Cats’ stud RB who was injured); plus, NU’s inexperienced coach made some bone-headed moves, including taking points off the board which had a major impact on the game.</p>
<p>Also, last season, NU also lost to a crappy IU team (due in part to losing both the starting QB and RB to injury) - but that didn’t negate a successful season.</p>
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<p>Yes - Duke clearly has the edge.</p>
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<p>That doesn’t negate the fact that you stated that NU only has one winning program.</p>
<p>Nice try at attempting to change the topic when the FACTS don’t match what you claim.</p>
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<p>Uhh, more people in the US care about swimming as a sport than soccer; more people can name top American swimmers than top American soccer players.</p>
<p>And again, it doesn’t negate what you had previously claimed.</p>
<p>Btw, NU’s swimming program has done that w/ less than the full amount of schollies for swim teams.</p>
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<p>That may be very well and good, but let’s talk about recent history (btw, men’s soccer at NU until fairly recently was a club sport).</p>
<p>NU soccer has made the NCAA tourney 4 out of the past 5 yrs and over the past 3 yrs, has an RPI surpassed only by 3 schools (no, Duke isn’t one of them).</p>
<p>The program has reached the quarterfinals 2 out of the last 3 yrs and was ranked as high as 2nd last season and 3rd in 2007.</p>
<p>Duke, otoh, hasn’t finished in the ranking for the past couple of yrs.</p>
<p>And again, whether Duke soccer program is “better” or not, it doesn’t negate the fact that your previous claim that NU only has 1 winning program is a bunch of crock.</p>
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<p>Uhh, the men’s team is in a rebuilding mode, but usually makes the NCAAs.</p>
<p>As for the women’s team, they won the INDOOR Championship this season and was ranked no.1 for pretty much the entire season so I don’t get where NU tennis is a “joke”.</p>
<p>And again, this doesn’t take away from the fact that your previous claim was bunk.</p>
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<p>Uhh, NU doesn’t have a men’s team and considering the fact that the women’s team has won FIVE national championships in a row, while the Duke men’s or women’s team have won NONE - I’d hardly call it a “Duke domination” (really, your view on things is pretty laughable, not to mention sophomoric).</p>
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<p>Sorry - which team finished in the national rankings (of which NU does pretty much every year)?</p>
<p>NU has too many wrestlers of note to mention.</p>
<p>When was the last time the Duke wrestling team was ranked in the top 20?</p>
<p>And again, your weak “argument” doesn’t refute the fact that your prior claim was pure ignorance.</p>
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<p>Duke probably does have the better golf programs (mostly due to the weather advantage), but I wouldn’t say “by a mile”.</p>
<p>And again, this doesn’t make your prior proclamation nonsensical.</p>
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<p>Duke BB has become like ND FB - over-rated by the press and analysts.</p>
<p>They continually get knocked out early in the Tourney, by much lower seeds including a 7th and 11th seeded teams (in fact, it’s been a LONG time since Duke has beaten a higher seeded team in the Tourney).</p>
<p>Again, you are misconstruing the facts, Duke BB hasn’t been relevant in the Tourney for for more than several years, and only once in nearly a decade.</p>
<p>Having said that, Duke still has an enviable program that any other private university would like have, but schools like Stanford and Northwestern just will not do away w/ academic standards for recruits as Duke has (c’mon, even you have to admit that avg. SAT scores in the mid-900s is frankly, embarrassing).</p>
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<p>Cutcliffe is a very good coach and Duke will likely make several bowl games w/ him at the helm (but probably not an annual affair - since the rest of the ACC, except for UVA, has upgraded their coaching staffs).</p>
<p>Having said that - the key reason why the Duke FB team will improve and make some bowls is b/c of the continually LOWERED academic standards pushed by the admin. in the quest for winning.</p>
<p>I don’t know if I would take pride in winning if my FB program allowed for ONE-THIRD of its recruits to only need to meet the minimum NCAA standards.</p>
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<p>The men’s lax team may very well win the championship next season, but then again, that’s what Duke fans have been saying for the past few years.</p>