In the eyes of the law, that's exactly what the Duke football program is: replaceable. The Courier-Journal reported yesterday that a Kentucky judge ruled that the Duke team could reasonably be replaced by ANY team in Division I, including what used to be I-AA. WOW.
In a lawsuit by Louisville suing for $450,000 because Duke pulled out of an agreement to play 3 football games, the Duke lawyers successfully argued the "team of similar stature" clause. If Louisville couldn't find a suitable replacement, Duke would have been liable, but because the judge agreed that Duke's 6-45 record meant that absolutely any team would constitute a similar level of opposition, Duke won the suit. Hooray for losing!
Is this the best they could find?For the ACC, this should be the proof we've been waiting for. Let's kick them out of the conference for football! By their own admission, no other team could be worse. Other private schools win some games in major conferences. Northwestern went to the Rose Bowl under Gary Barnett. Vandy was competitive when Cutler was there, and Stanford beat USC last year. But Duke? Not so much. Maybe Cutcliffe will make a difference, but I doubt it.
2 Responses:
From what I've seen in my professional and post-graduate careers, a Duke undergraduate degree is pretty fungible with anyone else's.
If it wasnt for men's basketball, they would already be gone. It is the only reason they are still in the conference. Plus Wake Forest has had some success the last couple of years.
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