:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/44161006/458638764.0.jpg)
When the Civil War ended, according to Eric Foner's book Reconstruction, a former slave saw his former master and called out "looks like the bottom rail's on top now, master."
| If you shop Amazon, please start here and help DBR |
|---|
 |
| Available now! |
| Drop us a line |
It's not nearly as significant that Duke is on top of the Coastal Division while Virginia Tech is on the bottom, but it's spectacularly weird by recent historical standards.
Duke controls its own fate, but as a nice bonus, Georgia Tech hosts Clemson while Miami hosts Florida State.
If Florida State holds form and wins, Duke has a cushion. The Devils already would win a tiebreaker with Georgia Tech.
Duke beat Virginia Tech last season, 13-10, and went up 20-0 on the Hokies the previous season before falling.
Best case scenario: Duke wins and both Miami and Georgia Tech lose.
In that case, Duke could split with UNC and Wake Forest and still win the division.
As we said, cushion. However, there's no doubt in our mind that Virginia Tech was angry after last year's game and is thirsting for payback. Duke had better be ready to match that sort of intensity.
Incidentally, while Jim Sumner covers home games for DBR, we're always interested in different perspectives. If anyone would like to write about football please drop us a line.
- Game day post: Virginia Tech at Duke
- No. 19 Duke plays host to Virginia Tech
- Hokies seeking a reversal of fortune vs. Duke
- Virginia Tech at Duke: Who has the edge?
- Surging Blue Devils to welcome Hokies
- Duke looking to extend Hokies' tough season
- Virginia Tech aims for redemption at Duke
- Duke still rolling since last year's upset of Hokies