Programs on the rise square off

DURHAM, N.C. --- From doormat to decent team, Duke has come pretty far in two seasons under David Cutcliffe.

During that same time period, Paul Johnson and Georgia Tech might have made even more progress.

The seventh-ranked Yellow Jackets can wrap up the Coastal Division and a berth in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game with a win today against a Blue Devils team in need of at least one monumental upset to qualify for its first bowl game in 15 years.

"Obviously, we don't want them to clinch, regardless if it's on our field," Duke tight end Brandon King said. "We know that we need to do our part if we want to get there. So we're not going to go out there saying, 'We don't want them to clinch it on our field.' We want to go out there saying, 'We want to make a step forward so we can clinch, so we can get there.' It's more a proactive approach."

That a mid-November game has deep significance for both Georgia Tech (9-1, 6-1) and Duke (5-4, 3-2) shows how much progress both programs have made since they fired their former coaches on the same day in November 2007 and made their current hires within a week of each other.

Johnson has guided the Yellow Jackets, winners of seven in a row, to their highest national ranking in a decade. Duke was rolling for a while, too, before last week's 19-6 loss at rival North Carolina dropped the Blue Devils into a funk.

Whatever momentum they had, Cutcliffe said, "just came to a dead silence."

Still, a season that began with a loss to Championship Subdivision member Richmond could end in a bowl game -- but only if Cutcliffe's team wins two of its final three against a schedule that includes the Yellow Jackets, No. 12 Miami and Wake Forest.

The Blue Devils haven't beaten a ranked team since 1994 -- also the last time they played in the postseason -- and have lost 13 of 14 in the series against Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets held the Blue Devils to 132 total yards in a 27-0 victory last year.