For the first time ever, Gameday goes to Durham

That actually interests me. I will probably tune in.

Duke time

I miss Elko

That's Big Noon's problem this week.

The students will show up but there is no such thing as a “Duke Football Fan”. The Clemson at Duke game was half a stadium of Clemson fans, a corner section of Duke students and a half empty stadium on the home side.

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The students will show up but there is no such thing as a “Duke Football Fan”. The Clemson at Duke game was half a stadium of Clemson fans, a corner section of Duke students and a half empty stadium on the home side.

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Even under Cutcliffe the fans in Durham just didn’t care.

They would semi show up for the UNC game if the team was competitive and it was at night just as a novelty but that was about it.

It’s not part of the culture there and I doubt any short term success under Elko will ever change that.

It’s always going to be a challenge for any private school besides Notre Dame, and to a certain extent USC.

The majority of private schools have 6,000-10,000 undergrad students. Some schools like BU, NYU, USC, etc have way more but most of those also have abysmal athletics.

And except for Miami, USC, and the Texas schools, I suspect the alumni are scattered all over the country, with strongholds in New York, DC, and to a lesser extent other major cities.

It’s much easier to show out for basketball, where 10,000-15,000 people is an accomplishment, versus college college football where the big schools have 80-100K in the stadium.

I looked into it but I don’t think I will be able to make it. I bet the atmosphere will be really good though on Saturday.

I bet ND fans will make up half of the crowd though.

They’re not wrong. This is a top 3 match-up for next week. Not something many Duke alums ever expected to see.

Tailgate was very different when I was there, and I remember students from other schools being shocked because there was no intention to show up to the games. They enjoyed the sideshow though , especially the Naval Academy guys.

Of course, the team won 4 or 5 games in 4 years then. Just pure incompetence, which was rewarded by students partying through halftime in the parking lot.

Cutcliffe and especially Elko are so much better. And the university realized a litigious parent might sue.

Duke fans would go to the lacrosse match over football

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And except for Miami, USC, and the Texas schools, I suspect the alumni are scattered all over the country, with strongholds in New York, DC, and to a lesser extent other major cities.

It’s much easier to show out for basketball, where 10,000-15,000 people is an accomplishment, versus college college football where the big schools have 80-100K in the stadium.

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i think it's more about the culture and tradition, rather than the capacity of arenas vs stadiums. IMO, it's not fair to always compare the biggest brands of CFB. for example, the golden gophers stadium (50k capacity) and oregon ducks' stadium (54k) are both GREAT visual environment, and both can get VERY loud.

duke's stadium has a capacity of 40k, and can be a very decent environment. obviously, it's gonna take time to build a program to get it to the level of higher and higher attendance rates, especially at a traditionally basketball-rich school

also, basketball has ~18 home games, and is spread out on all days of the week, when it's usually very difficult for parents and schoolkids to attend kids, not to mention the relative insignificance of each individual game

whereas in FB, there are only 7 or 8 games, on saturdays, which is much more conducive to attend games for all age groups. also, CFB games are considered a full blown event, or an experience for some.

a program like Duke can DEFINITELY build and become a regular bowl eligible program, if the admin and higher powers want to invest in it. no reason for it not to. it's in north carolina, which is a pretty damn good state for HS FB recruiting, and is near other hot beds (DMV) and the southern states.

oregon had next to zero FB history before the 90s when Phil Knight became more involved and started a lot of innovative processes so that Oregon is talked about as much as they are, and considered a desirable FB school. Duke has much better resources and location than oregon and could do that if they wanted to. won't be overnight, obviously, but it's definitely possible

The lack of Duke alumni in NC is obviously a hindrance. So is their reputation amongst NC residents. Most people pull for UNC, NCSU, and ECU or App State if you live in ENC or the High Country, respectively.