The Preseason Associated Press Top 25 Poll has been released, and the Duke football program is nowhere to be seen in the rankings. Although, AP poll voters threw the Blue Devils a little bit of a bone, giving the program votes along with a mish-mash of other programs.
Duke football not included in Preseason AP Top 25
Duke was one of 24 teams to receive votes outside of the poll, including Louisville, Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Pitt out of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Three schools in the ACC made it inside the Preseason Top 25 in Clemson (No. 4), Miami (No. 10), and SMU (No. 16).
Now, it wasn't expected for the Blue Devils to be included in the AP rankings ahead of the 2025 season, but it continues to be a major head-scratcher for Duke fans to watch how little respect the program has earned throughout the offseason, despite a highly successful first year under Manny Diaz in 2024.
Diaz delivered just the fourth season of nine or more wins in program history in his first season at the helm, and Duke had some of the fewest transfer portal exits of any program in the nation. It's hard to say that the team didn't get better heading into 2025, but voters and analysts around the nation still don't seem to be sold.
Duke made a major upgrade at the quarterback position, landing Darian Mensah from Tulane, one of the top quarterbacks of this past portal cycle. Diaz and his staff also reloaded the wide receiver position after losing the team's top two wideouts from a season ago.
With offensive skill position returners such as Que'Sean Brown and Jaquez Moore poised for breakout seasons, offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer is ready to take the next step with his unit from a scoring perspective.
That's not even the highlight of the team. After a 2024 season where Duke boasted one of the best defenses in all of college football, the Blue Devils brought back several key pieces with a few additions via the portal. The most notable returner on the defensive side of the ball is rising senior cornerback Chandler Rivers, who might be the best returning secondary piece in college football.
Duke finished second in the nation in tackles for loss (116), fourth in the nation in sacks (43), and 26th nationally in third-down conversion percentage (33.8) in 2024.
Now, being ranked in the preseason poll doesn't mean all that much, but after Mensah told reporters at ACC Kickoff that Duke was ready to "shock some people" in 2025, this just adds fuel to the fire.