The Blue Devils, who have five losses on the season, were sent to the ACC championship game thanks to multiple factors on unfolding on the final day of the 2025 college football regular season. The officially cashed in on their long-shot with SMU's missed field goal vs. California.

They failed, and Duke, with five losses, three in nonconference play – to Illinois, Tulane and UConn – was thrust into the ACC title game, which won a five-team tiebreaker Miami (10-2), Georgia Tech (9-3) and Pitt and SMU (both 8-4).

As Cal thwarted SMU’s late comeback and Duke took down Wake Forest, the 7-5 Blue Devils made the ACC title game against Virginia. Duke is just a three-point underdog to the Cavaliers and +115 to win the game outright. A Blue Devils win wouldn’t be all that surprising to oddsmakers.

Virginia concluded its regular season with a win against rival Virginia Tech, wrapping up a 10-2 regular season with a 7-1 conference record that kept the Wahoos at the top of the ACC standings. SMU also faced a win-and-in scenario heading into its finale at Cal, but a 38-35 defeat to the Bears opened the door to conference tiebreaker chaos.

Sporting News has the same 12 teams in the College Football Playoff as it did after Week 13, but the matchups have shifted.

Texas A&M fell out of the top five of The Associated Press college football poll for the first time in two months Sunday, while Texas Tech notched its highest ranking in 17 years.

The latest AP Top 25 college football rankings drop Texas A&M from the top five, pushing both No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Oregon up one spot. No. 5 Texas Tech follows with its highest ranking since November 2008.