Anna Snyder, Fayetteville ObserverSun, November 30, 2025 at 4:38 AM UTC·1 min readDuke football and second-year coach Manny Diaz are going to the ACC Championship game.
The Blue Devils' 49-32 win over Wake Forest paired with Cal's 38-35 win over No. 25 SMU and No. 13 Miami's 38-7 rout of Pitt clinched Duke's spot to in the title game for the first time since 2013.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDuke will face No. 17 Virginia at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte on Saturday, Dec. 6. The two met earlier in Week 12, with then-No. 19 Virginia handling Duke 34-17 at Wallace Wade Stadium in a loss which coach Manny Diaz said the Blue Devils were "thoroughly outclassed in every category."
Duke will be looking for its eighth ACC title and first since 1989. The Blue Devils finished ACC play 6-2 for just the fourth time in program history and the first time since 2013. Along with its loss to Virginia, Duke's other ACC loss came to Georgia Tech, falling 27-18 at Wallace Wade Stadium in Week 8.
"Six wins in the ACC, first time since '13 and second time since 1989," Diaz said following Duke's win over Wake Forest. "There's just a lot of things that these guys have done that either have never been done here before or not been done in a long time."
Diaz led Duke to 9-4 overall, tied for most by a first-year head coach, and 5-3 in ACC play in 2024. He led the Blue Devils to the Gator Bowl, becoming the third first-year Duke head coach to lead the program to a bowl.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhen is ACC championship game?
Date: Saturday, Dec. 6
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, N.C.)
Anna Snyder covers Duke for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her @annaesnydr on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Duke football to play in ACC Championship game vs Virginia
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