Duke vs Virginia: 2025 ACC Championship Prediction
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No, you weren’t going to pay any attention to the 2025 ACC Championship unless you’re an alum, or related to a Virginia or Duke player – not when it’s No. 1 vs No. 2 playing over in Indianapolis for the Big Ten title.
But this just got a lot more interesting.
Don’t hate Duke, hate the game that a 7-5 team that lost to Tulane in out-of-conference play and already got doubled up by Virginia is here.
And don’t hate the ACC big-wigs waving Virginia pom-poms, because the ACC is almost certainly out of the College Football Playoff if the Blue Devils win.
Again, was just did this a few weeks ago, and it wasn’t pretty. Virginia was up 31-3 going into the fourth quarter, the offense was unstoppable, and …
If the Cavaliers win, they’re in as, almost certainly, the 11 seed, and if Duke wins, James Madison will be very, very happy.
2025 ACC Championship: Duke vs Virginia Preview & Prediction
How To Watch Duke vs Virginia
Date: Saturday, December 6, 2025
Game Time: 8:00 PM ET
TV: ABC
Location: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
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Why Duke Will Win
The offense is a whole lot better than it showed against Virginia the first time around.
The passing game is the best in the ACC. There’s firepower and explosion, and while most of the yards came after the game was effectively over, star quarterback Darian Mensah was held in check, but he couldn’t do much with the Virginia defensive front all over him.
When the Blue Devils run well, things are fine. That’s easier said than done against a strong, aggressive Cavalier front, but Virginia is 2-2 when allowing more than 135 rushing yards.
The key here overall is to get a little early momentum, and that starts by keeping the chains moving. Duke is playing with house money – all of the pressure is on the other side. Get Mensah into a quick-hitting groove, play with a bit of tempo, and …
Why Virginia Will Win
Chandler Morris can keep up the pace.
The Cavalier quarterback was coming off an injury against Wake Forest when he threw for over 300 yards with two scores in the win over Duke. He threw two picks, but that was an outlier. Give him time, and he’ll pick defenses apart.
Duke’s defensive front made a few decent plays against the run, but it didn’t do enough to get to Morris. There’s a pass rush, but the Virginia offensive line is great at keeping defenses out of the backfield.
The Duke pass defense gets rolled by everyone. It allowed over 300 passing yards in four of the last five games, and even North Carolina was able to keep things moving with the short throws. As long as Morris doesn’t take any big chances …
Duke vs Virginia Prediction, Betting Lines
Don’t just assume Duke will roll over and let Virginia walk to the ACC Championship.
North Carolina gave the Blue Devils everything they could handle, and they made the plays needed to get by.
Wake Forest has been terrific. It got the win over Virginia – granted, it’s partly because Morris got hurt – but it couldn’t stop turning the ball over last week, and the Blue Devils took advantage of everything.
But every time it seems like Virginia is on the verge of turning back into the team that struggled for so many years, it comes up with a solid performance.
It’ll be dicey early, Duke will get an early lead, and things will settle down. Virginia will run well, it’ll dominate third downs on both sides of the ball, and it’ll be a far more dangerous College Football Playoff out than anyone will give it credit for.
Virginia 34, Duke 26
Line: Virginia -4.5, o/u: 57.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3
Must See Rating: 4
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Related: UNLV vs Boise State: 2025 Mountain West Championship Prediction
This story was originally published by College Football News on Dec 5, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add College Football News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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