How Duke Football Can End on Ultimate ACC Championship High Note

College football is continuing to evolve.

The College Football Playoff will officially expand to 24 teams, beginning in 2027. As a result, the college football season will start earlier, and Power 4 Conference Championship games will probably be eliminated. The Atlantic Coast Conference has already made that announcement.

ACC Announces 2026 Football Championship Game Will Be Last

The ACC announced today that the 2026 football conference championship game will be the conference's final annual title bout.

Oct 31, 2026; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils celebrate Duke Blue Devils running back Nate Sheppard's (20) touchdown during the first quarter against the Boston College Eagles at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today that the 2026 ACC Football Championship Game will be the final annual football championship game for the Conference. The decision reflects the continued evolution of college athletics and the College Football Playoff’s expansion to a 24-team format beginning with the postseason following the 2027 regular season," the ACC said in a release.

The new 24-team field will probably bring a diverse set of opinions from fans and folks associated with the sport across the country, but the elimination of Power Four title games always felt like an effect of expansion.

Well, why not go out on a high note, right?

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Dec 6, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Manny Diaz celebrates defeating the Virginia Cavaliers during the 2025 ACC Championship game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

How Duke Football Can Go Out on High Note

In 2025, Duke, led by quarterback Darian Mensah, made an untimely run to the ACC Championship game. The Blue Devils defeated No. 17 Virginia 27-20 in overtime to secure the school's first conference title since 1989 and its first outright championship since the 1960s. Could Duke cap off the ACC's football championship game with two in a row?

The Blue Devils already have two league losses (Georgia Tech and North Carolina) but sit at 7-2 overall and 4-2 in conference play. Duke has won its last two games over Boston College and NC State by a combined score of 88-5. Now, Manny Diaz and Co. gear up for their toughest stretch of the year.

Duke will meet No. 5 Miami on the road, host Clemson, then meet No. 11 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. The Blue Devils will have to win out for any chance to repeat as conference champions, but given how good they've looked over the past two weeks, it doesn't seem out of the question.

Miami suffered its first loss of the year this past weekend to Notre Dame, so it still has zero league losses. Wake Forest is the only one-loss team in the ACC. Duke, Clemson, Louisville, and SMU all have two in-conference losses.

With the ACC Championship Game drawing to a close, the Blue Devils have a chance to cap it off on a pretty great note. It's obviously not a guarantee, and Duke will have to win out to have any hope, but it might be on the table.

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