2025 ACC Championship Game
The 2025 ACC Championship Game was a college football conference championship game played on December 6, 2025, to determine the champion of the Atlantic Coast Conference for the 2025 season. The game featured the Virginia Cavaliers and the Duke Blue Devils. The 21st annual game began at 8:00 p.m. EST on ABC.
This was the first ACC Championship Game to go into overtime, with Duke winning it with an interception on a Virginia trick play. Duke went on to defeat Big XII opponent Arizona State in the 2025 Sun Bowl while Virginia went on to defeat SEC opponent Missouri in the 2025 Gator Bowl.
Teams
The 2025 ACC Championship Game featured the Virginia Cavaliers, with a 7–1 conference record, as the #1 seed, and the Duke Blue Devils, with a 6–2 conference record, as the #2 seed, after winning a 5-way tiebreaker of 6–2 teams. During the last few weeks of the regular season, Duke's ability to clinch a spot in the conference championship caused a significant stir among commentators and fans. Duke had lost all three of their FBS nonconference games and had never been ranked during the season. This led many to speculate that Duke would not be one of the five highest-ranked conference champions at the end of the season, preventing them from receiving an automatic bid to the College Football Playoff. Miami, the highest-ranked ACC team, was outside of the top 10, leading many to call a Duke victory a "doomsday scenario" for the conference, where no teams might be invited to the playoff. Most considered James Madison, the favorite to win the Sun Belt Conference, but ranked below American favorites Tulane and North Texas, as the most likely beneficiary of a Duke victory, as they could become the fifth highest-ranked conference championship and make the playoffs instead.This game was a rematch of a regular-season game on November 15; Virginia defeated Duke 34–17.
Duke Blue Devils
The Blue Devils clinched a spot in the game on November 29, when they defeated Wake Forest and then saw Pittsburgh lose to Miami and SMU lose to California. They finished the regular season 7–5 and were the designated away team for this game.This is Duke's first ACC Championship appearance since 2013, when they lost to eventual national champion Florida State 45–7. They sought their first ACC Championship since 1989 and first outright title since 1962.
Virginia Cavaliers
The Cavaliers clinched a spot in the game on November 29, when they defeated rival Virginia Tech. They finished the regular season 10–2 and were the designated home team for this game.This is their first ACC Championship appearance since 2019, when they lost to Clemson 62–17. They sought their first ACC Championship since 1995 and first outright championship in school history.