- - Why is ACC champion Duke in Sun Bowl? Blue Devils left out of CFP bracket

John Leuzzi, USA TODAY NETWORKDecember 31, 2025 at 3:08 AM

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Why is ACC champion Duke in Sun Bowl? Blue Devils left out of CFP bracket

The 92nd edition of the Sun Bowl offers a unique matchup setup between Duke football and Arizona State.

For starters, it's a matchup between two Power Four conference programs that haven't met in 11 years — coincidentally, in the 2014 Sun Bowl, when the Sun Devils came out with a 36-31 victory despite a fourth-quarter comeback from the Blue Devils.

REQUIRED READING: Duke football vs Arizona State scouting report, predictions for Sun Bowl

Then, there's the elephant in the room: the Blue Devils were sent to El Paso, Texas as the ACC champion, instead of playing in the College Football Playoff for a potential national championship run.

The Blue Devils and the Sun Devils are set for a 2 p.m. ET kickoff on Wednesday, Dec. 31 in the Sun Bowl in El Paso.

Here's what to know on how the ACC champion is playing in the Sun Bowl and not the College Football Playoff:

Why is ACC champion Duke in Sun Bowl instead of CFP?

It boils down to the final College Football Playoff rankings and the five highest-ranked conference champions.

Per the rules and format of the CFP, the 12-team CFP field is comprised of the five highest-ranked conference champions and seven at-large teams. There is no specification that conference champions must come from the Power Four or Group of Five — only that they are one of the five highest-ranked conference champions.

Because Duke was not among the five highest-ranked conference champions — Manny Diaz's squad wasn't even ranked in the top 25 after beating Virginia in the ACC Championship — it was left out of the field. The final two spots went to No. 20 Tulane and No. 24 James Madison, winners of the American and Sun Belt championships, respectively. It is the first time in the history of the CFP that two Group of Five teams made the playoff.

Duke coach Manny Diaz gave an 11th-hour pitch to the CFP selection committee to put the Blue Devils in the 12-team CFP bracket, which included an indirect shot at JMU for not having the same resume as his program.

"They don’t have wins like this. They don’t have a win against a team like that. That’s a big-time team right there in Virginia," Diaz said on the ESPN broadcast after the ACC Championship game. "Seven wins in this conference, seven Power Four wins compared to zero. That’s a playoff team. Darian Mensah may be the best damn quarterback in the country. These guys deserve to be in."

"They don't have wins like this. They don't have a win against a team like that...@DukeFOOTBALL is a playoff team." 🏆@Coach_MannyDiaz's final message to the @CFBPlayoff Committee. pic.twitter.com/s3Av1y1r1P

— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) December 7, 2025

Sun Bowl time today -

Date: Wednesday, Dec. 31

Time: 2 p.m. ET

Location: Sun Bowl (El Paso, Texas)

Duke and Arizona State are set for a 2 p.m. ET kickoff on Wednesday, Dec. 31 in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why is ACC champion Duke playing in Sun Bowl instead of CFP?

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