Where's Duke?

The college football coaches released their top 25 last week (the AP version, with your favorite AP voter, is forthcoming on Aug. 16) and a certain ACC team was conspicuous by its absence from the "Also Receiving Votes" section.

Grant Teaff, head of the American Football Coaches Association which oversees the poll, pulled the plug on Steve Spurrier's annual homage to Duke. Spurrier always used to list the Blue Devils at No. 25 in his preseason ballot as a shout out to the school that gave him his coaching break, but it has turned into a running joke given Duke's performance on the field.

Speaking of Duke's performance, one Internet sportsbook, which offers lines on I-A-vs.-I-AA matchups, lists the Blue Devils as a 1.5-point favorite against James Madison. In gambling parlance, that line is the book's way of begging you to take Duke because it believes James Madison will win the game.