The Duke football program capped off a miraculous season on Saturday night with a 27-20 overtime victory over No. 16 Virginia in the 2025 ACC Football Championship Game. This was the first ACC title game appearance for the Blue Devils since 2013, and marks the first conference title victory for the program since 1989. Head coach Manny Diaz has been nothing short of fantastic through his nearly two seasons in Durham, and he has the Blue Devils on the brink of their first College Football Playoff appearance in program history. However, it's not that simple. Duke finished the regular season with an 8-5 record and a 6-2 record in conference play, including losses to Tulane and UConn. Across the back half of the regular season, the Blue Devils haven't been shown much CFP love with five losses.
James Madison took down Troy in the Sun Belt Championship, likely securing the Dukes a bid. The top five conference champions earn automatic bids to the CFP, but that doesn't necessarily include the ACC. There was tons of chatter throughout the final few weeks of the regular season that if Duke won the ACC Championship, which it ultimately did, the ACC could be left out of the Playoff altogether.
Manny Diaz says Duke football should be included in CFP field if committee is "really paying attention to football"
After the conference title win, Diaz gave his two cents on why his team should be included in the CFP despite sitting with five losses.
"If they're really paying attention to football they're going to put us in," Diaz said. "Right, because when you play 10 Power Four games, and then, listen. Full credit to James Madison. They had a really good season, right...They have no wins against Power Four teams."
Duke owns seven Power Four wins, with a 7-3 record against Power Four opponents. James Madison owns zero Power Four wins, and its only matchup against a Power Four school was a 28-14 loss to Louisville on the road. Strength of schedule matters, and although the Blue Devils have ugly losses to Tulane and UConn, along with only one ranked win, Duke's schedule was undoubtedly tougher than JMU's.
Per ESPN's metrics, James Madison has the No. 18 strength of record but the No. 123 strength of schedule. Duke entered the ACC Championship with the No. 59 strength of record and the No. 74 strength of schedule.
Duke ends the regular season with three straight victories and a power conference title. It's up to the committee now to do the Blue Devils justice and get them into the field.