DURHAM - John McCain says one benefit of a long life is seeing things you'd never expect to happen in your lifetime. For McCain, it was watching France elect a president who actually likes the United States.

My if-you-live-long-enough moment comes tonight. In a few hours I'll be part of a bona-fide football crowd at Wallace Wade Stadium. Interest in Duke football is so high this season that the radio network I work for is providing traffic reports for the game.

Traffic at Wallace Wade? What's next, wins?

Count on it. Put this column on the fridge. After 13 consecutive losing seasons, my mighty Blue Devils will be going to a bowl game. And no, they won't have to buy tickets to get in.

My expert and unbiased reckoning has the Blue Devils winning at least six (that makes them bowl-eligible) and possibly eight games this season. Two rock-solid, take-it-to-the-bank victories will come when Duke triumphs over N.C. State and Carolina.

Quit laughing. I've got David Cutcliffe -- Coach Cut -- on my sidelines now. He's the guy Super Bowl MVPs Eli and Peyton Manning call when they want to talk shop.

It took a while, but I've become a Cutcliffe convert. It would have been nice if former head coach Ted Roof had been given the chance to complete the fifth season of his five-year plan. But it's hard to fault the Duke suits for getting rid of a coach who won a mere six out of 51 games.

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WHEN ROOF'S TEAMS RAN OUT OF WAYS TO LOSE A GAME, they simply created new ones. His losses were so confounding that the only reasonable explanation for his plight was that God was telling him to go to Minnesota. Roof is now defensive coordinator for the Golden Gophers.

When Cutcliffe was announced as Roof's replacement in December, his tutelage of the Manning brothers at Tennessee was more heralded than his coaching record. I wondered if the hiring committee understood Cutcliffe couldn't bring Eli and Peyton along with him. You never know at Duke.

It wasn't until the spring game that I finally warmed to Cutcliffe. These games are traditionally when I first learn how bad my Blue Devils are going to be in the fall. My attendance is fueled more by resignation than anticipation. But this year's game was different. It was organized. Instead of looking like an aimless pack of academic refugees, my mighty Blue Devils actually looked and acted like a football team. At the "Meet The Blue Devils" practice/scrimmage two weeks ago, they even played like one.

No wonder. Every minute of the practice was filled. Cut didn't even take time to point out and correct obvious mistakes; he kept running plays just like in a game. I later found out Cutcliffe does corrective coaching off the field to maximize precious practice time.

Here's where he won me over and why Duke is destined for a bowl game. After two hours of an intense, physical practice, Cutcliffe lined up his team for wind sprints. Root canals are more fun than wind sprints, particularly on hot, humid mornings like this one. Cutliffe anticipated the moment. He strode to midfield and simply said, "Gentlemen, I expect to see more excitement at this point."

Message delivered. Wind sprints were run with enthusiasm. That's old-school and old school wins.

If Coach Cut is as good as the 30,000 that will soon fill Wallace Wade think he is, raucous, pro-Duke football crowds may not be the last "first" of my life. I may live long enough to see a winning season.

Go Duke!

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