How you measure success in college football tends to be relative to the strength and history of your program.
For places like Alabama and Ohio State, success is measured by national championships. For programs like Duke, it doesn't get a lot better than a nine-win season that happened to culminate with an ACC Championship and a Sun Bowl victory.
Manny Diaz might take some solace in the fact that the bar might be much lower in 2026.
According to ESPN, it's a one-game season for the Blue Devils next year. And yeah, it's exactly the game that you are thinking of.
ESPN listed the defining game for each power four team in 2026, and Duke's, of course, is the November road game at Miami that every Blue Devils fan already has circled on the calendar.
David Hale writes: "If this were the only game Duke won in 2026, Blue Devils fans would still probably be happy."
Beating Miami might be the only thing that matters for Duke Football in 2026
There was plenty of hostility between Duke and Miami on the gridiron before a consequential Transfer Portal cycle. Duke head coach Manny Diaz is the former Hurricanes coach, who was fired and replaced by Mario Cristobal. A game against Miami would always carry more weight for Diaz as a result.
But after QB Darian Mensah, and to a lesser degree, WR Cooper Barkate, departed Durham for Coral Gables under the circumstances they did, the Blue Devil hatred for all things Miami has reached a fever-pitch.
Nothing would be sweeter - not even a win over North Carolina - than going down to Miami and upsetting the Hurricanes in November.
That will be easier said than done, obviously. Miami is coming off a national championship game appearance and will field one of the best teams in the country again.
But Duke won't be a slouch, either, even with lowered expectations following Mensah's departure. While the Miami game might be the only one that truly matters, the Blue Devils are likely to win quite a few more than that.