The disrespect towards the Duke football program continues throughout the offseason, as the program has been left off another list of teams that could be surprise contenders. FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt released his top ten teams who could make their first College Football Playoff, and the Blue Devils were left out of the mix.
One other program out of the Atlantic Coast Conference was thrown onto the list in the Miami Hurricanes, but Duke was nowhere to be seen.
NEW: 10 Teams most likely to make their first College Football Playoff in 2025🏆
— On3 (@On3sports) July 8, 2025
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Duke is continuing to fly under the radar of potential sleeper contenders in college football in 2025, and Manny Diaz's club is ready to make some noise out of the ACC despite being heavily overlooked.
FanDuel gives the Blue Devils just the sixth-best odds to win the ACC Championship game at +3000, behind clubs like Louisville and SMU. In addition, head coach Manny Diaz was left off the 2025 Dodd Trophy preseason watch list, even after Diaz delivered an extremely successful first season at the helm in Durham. Diaz brought Duke its fourth season of ten or more wins in program history, and was the second coach to do it in his first season. Mike Elko accomplished the feat in his first season with the Blue Devils in 2022.
It's a bit surprising to see the Blue Devils getting little to no recognition as even a sleeper contender, considering the work Diaz and the rest of his staff did to revamp the roster for 2025. It starts with the addition of top transfer portal quarterback Darian Mensah, a rising redshirt sophomore brought in from Tulane. Beyond that, the Blue Devils are bringing back several key returners from one of the top defenses in the ACC last year. The Blue Devils 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.
The list of key defensive returners is headlined by rising senior cornerback Chandler Rivers, who is viewed as one of the top returning secondary pieces in college football and a potential first-rounder in the 2026 NFL Draft. Include safety Terry Moore and linebacker Tre Freeman on that list, and Duke has the potential to have the best defense in the ACC.
Duke is continuing to stay in the shadows throughout the offseason, but a potential breakout year for Diaz and his club is on the horizon.