2008 Duke Blue Devils Football Betting Preview

[Qbins Missile Crisis]

College Football Wagering Preview – Duke Blue Devils

How bad is Duke as a money team for sports gamblers? They won only one game in 2007 and even lost to Notre Dame. There's no sugarcoating, there's no smoke and mirrors and there's no bright side at this point. Duke sucks.

David Cutliffe will take over this miserable program and will try to build them into something. The problem is there isn't much to work with since the Blue Devils have won only two games in the last three years.




They'll be among the worst in the nation.

Offense

The Blue Devils have two nice pieces on offense in senior wideout Eron Riley and quarterback Thaddeus Lewis but they really don't have much else.

Riley is a stud and is one of the best receivers in the ACC while Lewis has thrown for more than 4500 yards and 32 touchdowns in his career.

The offensive line has been brutal in recent years, which has undermined any development. This year there is some experience around but center is a weakness with the untested Bryan Morgan taking over the position.

The Blue Devils have no running game to speak of. Basically, there's some optimism surrounding senior back Re'quan Boyette but this team averaged 2.0 yards per carry last year.

On the whole, this team ranked 115th in scoring last year and although they might be a little better if their offensive line can improve and their running game can crawl a bit forward, they still are a long ways away from being respectable.

Defense

The strength on defense will be a couple of linebackers named Michael Tauliili Vincent Rey. The two combined 119 tackles last season and will have plenty of mopping up to do this year.

There's plenty of seniors on this defense, which is a good start but it doesn't mean that they will be particularly good.

The defensive line returns all four starters and the secondary returns three starters – Chris Davis being the lone departure.

On the whole, they might be better due to experience but they are definitely talent thin. Playmakers are few and far between, as evidenced by their measly total of 18 takeaways last year.

Outlook

David Cutliffe looked OK at Ole Miss but most of that was because Eli Manning attended the school. Is he capable of rebuilding a program as downtrodden as Duke? Even if he is, it is going to be a couple of years before they do so.

The Blue Devils are easily the worst team in the ACC and should get thumped regularly. When does college basketball start?

BetUS sportsbook already has tons of college football Futures betting available for those of us who can't wait. Bet on the Heisman winner, Conference and Divisional winners and, of course, the 2009 BCS National Championship winner.