Playing Duke has taken its toll on ACC Teams

The post-Duke letdown is real.  I looked at Duke's ACC opponents and how they played in their next game and the results are compelling.  I took GameSim's prediction for the following game as an "expected" result and compared it to the actual result.

CLEMSON, SC - FEBRUARY 09: Duke Blue Devils center Khaman Maluach (9) goes between two defenders to take a shot during a college basketball game between the Duke Blue Devils and the Clemson Tigers on February 8, 2025, in Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C. Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Only Georgia Tech outperformed their expected result and that was by a whopping 28 point difference when they beat Alabama A&M in the next game. Including that result, ACC teams are under performing in their next game after playing Duke by a margin of victory of 7.6 points per game.  Hopefully Clemson is paying attention, although the Tigers have one thing going for them that the other teams didn't, they came away with a victory against Duke.  According to NCAAGameSim.com, the Tigers are a 4 point favorite tonight as they host UNC.

Here's a way too fancy graphic that shows each ACC team and their next opponent, estimated margin, and actual margin of victory.