I hate Duke basketball as much as the next guy but I would not compare the academics of those 2 schools. Duke is an elite academic university up there with Ivies. Miami is a very good school but the selectivity of admissions is very low because of its location and appeal to Northeastern kids. Other than that its academics are nothing like the top tier schools. I've discussed this with people who have gone there recently. It's a very good school but nothing close to elite. Not that U.S. News and World Report university rankings are the be all end all, but they have Miami rated #63 behind schools you would not associate with elite academics. Duke is #6, ahead of most of the Ivies.