Duke avoids paying Louisville due to terrible football team.

sodakjoe · 06-21-2008, 01:12 PM

ESPN article

ESPN - Report: Duke free of damages in contract suit with Louisville - College Football

If our program ever got to this point, I don't know what I'd do with myself.

Benny34 · 06-21-2008, 01:25 PM

Ouch....

AIT · 06-21-2008, 01:41 PM

Duke's lawyers argued that the Blue Devils' performance on the field was so poor that any Division I team would suffice as a replacement.

Wow. The "we suck" defense.

I still don't understand how Duke gets out of this without paying. Part of the reason teams sign contracts is so they don't have to go to the trouble of finding a replacement opponent, especially at the last minute like Louisville will have to do. Plus, Duke is still a BCS team, and they'll generate more interest than a non-BCS team.

sodakjoe · 06-21-2008, 04:27 PM

Originally Posted by AIT

Plus, Duke is still a BCS team, and they'll generate more interest than a non-BCS team.

The reason they got out of payment is because this isn't true. There are 1-AA teams with a higher level of interest than Duke. You really think Western Kentucky fans wouldn't turn out higher than Duke fans, especially with a much shorter travel time? How about Marshall, or a number of MAC schools?

There are quite a few schools with a better football following than Duke.

clone2011 · 06-21-2008, 05:13 PM

Our schedules are full through 2015-16, but I wouldn't mind scheduling a multi-year home-and-home deal with Louisville or similar team. They're a decent team, and hopefully in a few years we'll be able to start scheduling tougher non-con opponents without fear of being embarrassed to lose to them.

AIT · 06-21-2008, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by sodakjoe

The reason they got out of payment is because this isn't true. There are 1-AA teams with a higher level of interest than Duke. You really think Western Kentucky fans wouldn't turn out higher than Duke fans, especially with a much shorter travel time? How about Marshall, or a number of MAC schools?

There are quite a few schools with a better football following than Duke.

Duke is probably at the bottom of the BCS schools, but that's still better than most non-BCS schools. Duke's attendance last year was about 20000, W Kentucky's attendance was about 16500. WKU might put a few more butts in the seats, but I'm guessing Duke would provide a lot more TV viewers. You'd have ACC fans watching, plus anybody who just likes seeing Dookies get destroyed.

Play another BCS team, and it makes your schedule look stronger. You can tell people you have a non-conference BCS win (hoping nobody realizes it's just Duke) while the other guy scheduled a 1AA team instead. And if this series involved games at Duke, you can claim road non-conference BCS wins.

If Louisville replaces Duke with a 1AA team, they'll have to deal with the scheduling quirks involved with 1AA teams like bowl eligibility.

I'm not saying Duke is a great match-up, but they're better than a lot of non-BCS alternatives. Louisville could do a little better with their replacement, but they could also do a lot worse, and I don't think Duke should be able to weasel out of their contract without penalty just because they suck.

MontyBurns · 06-23-2008, 12:46 AM

Originally Posted by clone2011

Our schedules are full through 2015-16, but I wouldn't mind scheduling a multi-year home-and-home deal with Louisville or similar team. They're a decent team, and hopefully in a few years we'll be able to start scheduling tougher non-con opponents without fear of being embarrassed to lose to them.

Or we could do it now. There's less embarassment in losing to Louisville than there is in losing to Kent State or UNI.

HandSanitizer · 06-23-2008, 07:55 AM

I think if being so bad can get you out of a contract then they need to be dismissed from the ACC. You can't have it both ways.