The ACC is Weak – Duke Proves It

Parity can be fun and exciting, but it usually doesn’t equate to quality. That is the definition of the ACC this season. No team has proven to be elite, so every weekend is full of chaos as every team is beatable.

An perfect example of the chaos is Duke. The Blue Devils are 5-4 this season and 4-1 in the ACC. They are still in serious contention to play in the conference championship game, yet are 0-3 this season against FBS teams outside of the ACC.

They dropped to 0-3 yesterday with a 37-34 loss at UConn (7-3), which is playing as an independent. That followed previous losses to Illinois (6-3) and Tulane (7-2). Luckily for Duke, their remaining three games are against ACC opponents.

Duke’s offense has been potent this season, behind Darian Mensah, who has proven himself as one of the top transfer quarterbacks this season. But the defense has been tragic, giving up 29.1 points per game. And they have been worse in their three non-ACC P4 losses, allowing 38.7 points per game.

The conference had two very notable non-conference wins at the beginning of the season. Miami’s victory over Notre Dame and Florida State’s victory over Alabama brought plenty of optimism for conference in 2025. That now feels like a decade ago.

Instead, it has turned into a pillow fight. It’ll be fun to watch over the next three weeks, but remember that fun doesn’t always mean that it is quality.