Put Up Your Dukes - Duquesnes Stuns Temple to Move to 3-0 in A-10 Play

It's pronounce "Doo-Cane" by the way...

Somwhere Papa Maniac is smiling wide as his alma matter notched one of their biggest wins of the last twenty years. 

Just a few days after proclaiming Temple the best non-MWC mid-major in the country the Owls went to Pittsburgh and got steamrolled by the traditionally less-than-mighty Duquesne Dukes.  The final score wasn't humiliating, but after getting steamrolled by a 22-2 run to open the contest the Owls were never really competitive. 

For Duquesne, it is the kind of win that can jumpstart a team and catapault them on a serious run.  The win surges them to 3-0 in conference play and makes them a legitimate player in the A-10 race.  With Richmond getting beat by Rhode Island, Xavier and Dayton's respective trouble this season and the win today over league favorite Temple, the Dukes have put themselves in interesting position to do something they haven't done in several decades.  Make the NCAA Tournament.

Duquesne is quietly one of the most talent-rich teams in the league.   Both Bill Clark and Damien Saunders have a chance to play ball after college, albeit likely overseas, and the remainder of their roster is roster is a nice blend of experienced upperclassmen and several talented freshman.  In a relatively down year in the A-10 compared to the past four or five years, this is the perfect season for an unexpected team like the Dukes to nudge their way into the elite teams accustomed to their perch atop the league.

If the Dukes are going to make a run at the Tourney, it's going to have to be on the strength of an unprecendently solid conference record.  Duquesne entered league play at only 8-5, with a loss to George Mason and basically every team in the state of Pennsylvania (Pitt, Penn State, Robert Morris and just over the state line in a loss to West Virginia.  Their best wins were over IUPUI and Wisconsin Green Bay, so not much to hang their hat on when it comes time to impress the committee.

Despite the lack of a quality win, they did gather something almost equally important in the preconference season; a lack of fear of big time programs.  With the exception of Pitt, all their losses were by six or less points, including a three point loss at West Virginia.  With a few plays here and there, they could have easily won two or three of their tough losses.

Today's quality win was enormous, and provided the Dukes can stay level-headed following the surprising victory, the schedule does them some favors with four of the next five games being "should-wins" and the lone game in which they will likely be the underdog is a home game versus Dayton. 

I'm not quite ready to put Duquesne IN the tourney, but this is a team that could very easily get to 22 or 23 wins and make a solid case for inclusion come March.
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