Colorado coach Deion Sanders promised ‘severe changes’ after his team finished the season with a 3-9 record.
The Buffaloes lost their final game of the season 24-14 to Kansas State, marking their fifth straight loss.
Players cited a lack of leadership as a contributing factor to the team’s struggles this season.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders made a bold promise about the future of his football team after a 24-14 loss at Kansas State on Saturday in the final game of his third season in charge.

He called it the ‘Last Supper” — a Biblical reference to the last supper of Christ before his crucifixion and resurrection. After finishing the season with a 3-9 record, it was the last thing Sanders said to reporters before heading back home to make “severe changes” to his roster and coaching staff.

“If anybody’s built to reconcile and to get this back on course, it’s me,” Sanders said after the game in Manhattan, Kansas. “And I will do it if it’s the last thing I do on Earth. Trust me when I tell you: This was the last supper. God bless you.”

Sanders also reminded reporters that he’s “not a loser.”

“I don’t handle it well,” he said. “I don’t cope well.”

The Buffaloes finished with five straight losses and beat only one team with a winning record in 2025 (Iowa State). They were also 0-5 in road games and 1-8 in the Big 12 Conference.

“We won’t be in this situation again, I promise you that,” Sanders said. “I can promise you that, because I’m not happy with nothing right now. Nothing.

What happened in Deion Sanders’ final game of 2025?

His team showed a heartbeat despite the cold and snowy conditions in front of an announced crowd of 49,549. The Buffaloes even pulled to within 17-14 with 7:03 remaining after 1-yard touchdown run by running back Micah Welch. But then the bottom fell out on the next defensive series. Kansas State running back Joe Jackson burst up the middle, broke a tackle and spun loose into the end zone for a 17-yard score with 2:43 remaining to help put his team 24-14.

In response, the Buffs couldn’t move the ball past the Kansas State 42-yard line and turned the ball over on downs after a sack. Sanders even declined to use its final two timeouts.

Jackson finished the game with 142 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries.

Sanders said afterward that change is the first order of business when he returns to Boulder.

“I see everything being different, even me,” Sanders said of next season.

Colorado players blame lack of leadership

Senior quarterback Kaidon Salter made his ninth start of the season for Colorado, this time replacing freshman Julian Lewis, who sat out the game to take a redshirt year this season. Salter completed 14-of-25 passes for 172 yards with one interception.

The Buffs used three quarterbacks this year, including two starts for Lewis and one for sophomore Ryan Staub.

“We been playing a lot of different quarterbacks,” Salter said afterward. “Nobody really knew who that guy was from spring ball to now.”

Salter said that helped create a leadership void after the departure of last year’s starting quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, Deion’s son.

“Sometimes when it’s one week you’re starting here, then the next you’re on the bench, so now you want to listen to this guy instead of this guy,” Salter said. “So it was just, it was a lot of confusion in our room, but I’m sure next year, they’ll be way better with it.”

Colorado linebacker Jeremiah Brown added that natural leaders don’t need to ‘try’ to lead.

“It just naturally happens,” Brown said. “And unfortunately, we just didn’t have very many of those.”

What will Deion Sanders do now?

Changes are in store for his coaching staff. Running backs coach Marshall Faulk is expected to be named the new head coach of Southern on Monday. Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur was stripped of play-calling duties this year with a contract expiring in January.

Their roster is another matter. Sanders hopes to keep a core group of top players, including Lewis, the quarterback, who said he is committed to staying at Colorado. Standout offensive tackle Jordan Seaton might be a harder sell with one season left before he’s expected to leave for the NFL.

Sanders was asked about talent retention after the game.

“The No. 1 reason people leave is money,” Sanders said. He said that wasn’t an excuse. But “it helps,” he said.

It’s also clear his program needs more than just another offseason commitment to getting stronger and bigger physically.

“It could make them look like Tarzan,” he said. “But we can’t play like Jane.”

Sanders even credited reporters for putting up with what they say this year.

‘God bless you guys,’ he said to them. ‘You guys have been kind even considering the foolishness that you saw on the field and on the sideline this whole year. I appreciate you guys… You don’t have to go easy on me. I’m a big boy. I’ve been doing this for a long time. And when I win, I don’t mind a clap. When I lose, I don’t mind a boo. I played this game. I know this game, like the back of my hand. And I love this game. And I love all the ups and downs and ins and outs about it. And I’m built for every last bit of it.’

Sanders’ three-year record at Colorado is now 16-21, including a 4-8 season in 2023, followed by 9-4 last year.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

ANN ARBOR, MI – You can have your College Football Playoff race, where multiple games that can and will impact the 12-team field played out Saturday all over the nation. They’ll take The Game, thank you. 

You know what’s bigger and better than a nouveau riche playoff? Life and death between Ohio State and Michigan. 

And if you don’t think that’s what this menacingly marvelous piece of Americana is after the Buckeyes mercifully ended five years of misery with a dominating 27-9 win, you’re not watching closely enough. 

‘I’ve thought, as you can imagine over the years, what I’d say in this press conference,’ Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. ‘I’m going to save all those comments, because I think the best thing to do is win with humility.’

Not in this game, not with everything it means and everyone it impacts. So others did it for him.

Like Ohio State players laying on the turf at Michigan Stadium, joyfully spreading snow angles all over the joint. Or the OSU mascot, Brutus Buckeye, using his foot to pen Script Ohio at the south end zone goal line, and scraping an ‘X’ over the ‘M’ in Michigan.

Because not only do they not give a damn about the whole state of Michigan, they refuse to even use the letter M. In any way, shape or form.

‘We ended up clearing out the stadium,’ said Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin. ‘And had a lot of red in there.’

Forgive the sophomore from Carlsbad, Calif., if he committed a venial sin. It’s scarlet, Julian.

Don’t forget it when you’re picking up that bronze trophy next month in New York City.

‘They had a great look in their eye,’ Day said of his team that had lost four straight to Michigan, and hadn’t won The Game since 2019. ‘I don’t think there was any doubt when we walked into the stadium what was going to happen.’

That statement was utterly laughable before it all played out on a typically snowy and blustery late November in Michigan. The Game is full of doubt ― in the greatest way possible.

Only in The Game can Day look like a battered, bruised and lost puppy one season, and a flawless work hanging in the Louvre a year later.  

Only in The Game, can Michigan do no wrong since 2021, and stumble around for the better part of three quarters like a team and a coaching staff lost in the largest moment of their lives. 

Only in The Game can Ohio State take those years of debilitating discontent, years of having their toughness and manhood questioned, and shove them right down Michigan’s throat.

The Buckeyes played bully ball, using an unrelenting run game in poor conditions, some critical throws from Sayin, and a nasty defense to escape a recurring nightmare that had suffocated the program. 

Late in the third quarter and into the fourth, Ohio State used a masterfully patient and punishingly effective 20-play, 81-yard drive (16 runs) that used 12 minutes of game clock to kick a 23-year field goal and put Michigan to sleep. Finally and fittingly.

That’s really the only way this losing streak could end. The only way Ohio State could reclaim who and what it has been, and now is again. 

Physically leaving no doubt.

Because not even winning the national championship last season — after losing The Game — could soothe the pain of what Michigan has inflicted.

The rout in 2021 that snapped Ohio State’s eight-game winning streak, and gave Michigan coach and alum Jim Harbaugh the only win that mattered in his first seven seasons. Seven.

The rout in 2022 that led to Michigan finally breaking through and reaching the CFP, and made it clear that Ohio State now had a Harbaugh problem. 

The one-possession win in 2023 that gave Michigan the confidence and momentum it needed to win its first national championship since 1997. 

And the three-point win in 2024 that salvaged a five-loss season for first-year Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore, and nearly got Day fired.

Imagine that, a coach who has won 82 of 92 career games in the biggest fishbowl of all in college football, nearly lost it all because he couldn’t beat That Team Up North. Absurd, yes — but that’s The Game, everyone.    

‘To tell you the last four years have been easy is not true.,’ Day said. ‘When you don’t accomplish those things, you take it personally.’ 

Until you’ve experienced it, there’s nothing like Michigan vs. Ohio State, this annual march to the inevitable and pulsating three hours of it means everything. The 365-day buffer doesn’t diminish the hate and hurt, it only magnifies it to unimaginable proportions.

Ohio State not only had 2,190 days between wins (but who’s counting?), the team it despises like no other not only got better over those five years and four losses (they didn’t play during the pandemic season of 2020), but won the whole damn thing in 2023 at the Buckeyes’ expense. 

Then followed that up with a soul-sucking win unlike any other in the history of the series (that’s not hyperbole).

So when Michigan ripped off a long run on the first drive of the game, and led 3-0, and after Sayin threw a bad interception into double coverage and Michigan turned it into a six point lead, all of those gut-punches of the past started bleeding through.

A series later, it all ended with a perfectly thrown 35-yard touchdown pass from Sayin to Jeremiah Smith ― on fourth and five, no less ― and Ohio State never trailed again. In fact, was never really threatened.

‘We had to stay even-keeled,’ Sayin said. ‘We had to keep battling.’  

The shifts of emotion and momentum are so intense in this rivalry, the flaws of execution so scrutinized, every play and every decision falls under the most extreme of fanatically unrelenting microscopes. 

Only in this game can a $12 million quarterback, Michigan freshman Bryce Underwood, look like a dime store replacement (8-of-18, 63 yards, INT).

Only in this game can a Cali kid ― who grew up surfing on Solana Beach and never played a game in colder than 50 degree weather ― play the game of his brief Ohio State life in the freezing snow. And strengthen his already impressive Heisman Trophy measurables.

Ohio State has played 12 games now, and hasn’t really been tested. While the rest of college football is jockeying for position in their wake, the Buckeyes haven’t lost since the last time they played The Game.

Since the loss and the resulting fight between the teams and the mayhem that followed.

But instead of wilting in the moment, Ohio State not only got better, it got meaner and tougher and mentally stronger. A year later in this moment, everything changed. 

Ohio State rushed for 77 yards in last year’s game — after a season of an emphasis on the run game with the hiring of UCLA coach Chip Kelly to run the offense — and freshman tailback Bo Jackson had 77 yards rushing in the first half. By the time the Buckeyes were salting away a huge win late in the fourth quarter, they had 186 yards rushing.

Ohio State ran 73 plays, Michigan ran 42. Ohio State had the ball for 40 minutes, Michigan for 20.

Ohio State beat Michigan ― hold onto your Bucknuts, everyone ― by playing like Michigan. The very thing the Buckeyes tried to do last season and failed spectacularly.

‘During the season, when things are going well, I always say that’s all great,’ Day said. ‘But how’s it going to look when it’s snowing sideways in late November?’

Like a thing of beauty for the first time since 2019.

Hang it in the Louvre.

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colorado — Mikaela Shiffrin brings an impressive streak into the slalom race at the Copper Mountain World Cup.

Going back to last season, Shiffrin has made the podium in the last five slalom races. She’s won four of them, including the first two of this season to extend her record of World Cup wins to 103.

But Shiffrin isn’t assuming anything going into Sunday’s slalom race, the last of the World Cup at Copper Mountain.

‘It’s going to be a really long slalom,’ Shiffrin said after the giant slalom race Saturday, Nov. 29. ‘All the women today who did this race, I think we’re all going to be really feeling our legs tomorrow. I’m already feeling my legs, so I’m unsure what that means for quickness and coordination. The biggest task for the rest of the day is reset, get some recovery — I mean as much as possible — and try to just mentally override whatever fatigue I might have tomorrow.’

Here’s how to watch the slalom race at the Copper Mountain World Cup:

When does Mikaela Shiffrin start?

Mikaela Shiffrin will start fourth in the first run of the slalom race. Wendy Holdener of Switzerland drew the first spot, followed by teammate Camille Rast and Croatia’s Zrinka Ljutic.

Shiffrin’s start position for the second run will be determined by her finish in the first run.

Where are the other Americans?

Paula Moltzan, who had top-five finishes in the season’s first two slalom races, will start 13th. There’s a long wait until the next American, Elisabeth Bocock, who will start 35th. Nina O’Brien, whose 11th-place finish in Saturday’s GS race was the best for the Americans, starts 39th followed by Liv Moritz in the 40th starting spot.

Annika Hunt starts 53rd and Liv Moritz’s twin sister Kjersti, who made her World Cup debut Saturday, rounds out the U.S. contingent in 56th.

How the slalom race works

The top-ranked skiers are at the top of the starting order for the first run. The top 30 qualify for the second run, when the finish order of the first run is reversed and the fastest skiers will go last.

How to watch

Broadcast/streaming schedule (all times Eastern)

Outsideonline.com will show all of the races live while NBC, Peacock and CNBC will have a mix of live and delayed coverage.

Noon – First run, women’s slalom, outsideonline.com

1 p.m. – Delayed coverage of women’s giant slalom, NBC and Peacock

2 p.m. – Delayed coverage of men’s super-G, CNBC and Peacock

3 p.m. – Second run, women’s slalom, outsideonline.com, CNBC and Peacock

Lionel Messi has delivered Inter Miami to the brink of its first Major League Soccer championship.

Inter Miami defeated New York City FC, 5-1, in the Eastern Conference final on Saturday, Nov. 29. As a result, Inter Miami will play in MLS Cup for the first time.

Inter Miami will play the Vancouver Whitecaps — winners of the Western Conference final — in MLS Cup. Since Inter Miami finished the regular season with a better record than Vancouver, the Herons will host the league’s championship game at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Saturday, Dec. 6 (2:30 p.m. ET on Apple TV and FOX).

Tadeo Allende had a hat trick in Inter Miami’s impressive victory. Allende’s eight goals during the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs ties him with Carlos Ruiz (2002) for the most in a single postseason in MLS history. Mateo Silvetti and Telasco Segovia added second-half goals for Miami. Messi’s assist on Silvetti’s goal gave him 13 goal contributions (six goals, seven assists) in Inter Miami’s five playoff games this season.

It was an all-in, ‘Last Dance’-type campaign for Inter Miami. Two of Messi’s legendary former FC Barcelona teammates, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, are retiring. Another ex-Barcelona teammate of Messi, Luis Suarez, is not yet under contract for 2026.

For Messi, the eight-time Ballon d’Or award winner and 2022 World Cup champion with Argentina, he can win his 47th career trophy for club and country if Inter Miami prevails in MLS Cup.

In the six-season history of Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, it has won the 2023 Leagues Cup and 2024 MLS Supporters’ Shield. Now, the club is one step away from collecting its grandest prize.

Inter Miami vs. New York City FC Eastern Conference final highlights

When is MLS Cup 2025?

Date and time: Saturday, Dec. 6 at 2:30 p.m. ET
Location: Chase Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
TV and streaming: FOX and Apple TV

USA TODAY Sports’ 48-page special edition commemorates 30 years of Major League Soccer, from its best players to key milestones and championship dynasties to what exciting steps are next with the World Cup ahead. Order your copy today!

Klay Thompson turned back the clock with six 3-pointers en route to a season-high 23 points, Cooper Flagg went for a season-best 35 points and the Dallas Mavericks held off the host Los Angeles Clippers, 114-110, on Saturday night.

Resting Anthony Davis on the second night of a back-to-back, the Mavericks trailed 103-101 after a John Collins 3-pointer for the Clippers with 2:22 to go.

But Thompson, playing in his hometown, capped a 17-point final period with a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:52 remaining, Flagg dropped in three sets of two lead-extending free throws in the last 1:20 and the Mavericks kept the Clippers at arm’s length en route to snapping a three-game losing streak.

In a game in which neither team led by more than 10, the Clippers found themselves down 87-83 after a Thompson 3-pointer in the first minute of the fourth quarter.

The game then became a duel between Thompson and Kawhi Leonard, with Thompson connecting on four 3-pointers among his 17 points in the final 12 minutes, while Leonard countered with a three-point play, a jumper and four additional free throws over the final 10:40.

Thompson’s 20-point night was just his second of the season. He had contributed just 10 points to a 129-119 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers when the Mavericks tipped off a two-night stay in Southern California on Friday.

Flagg’s 35 points were six more than his previous high. The No. 1 overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft hit 13 of his 22 shots and nine of his 11 free throw attempts while also finding time for a team-high-tying eight rebounds.

Naji Marshall added 18 points, Brandon Williams 14 to go with a team-high seven assists and Dwight Powell six steals to complement nine points and five rebounds for the Mavericks, who reversed an earlier double-overtime home loss to Los Angeles.

Leonard had a team-high 30 points and James Harden 29 for the Clippers, who lost for the second time at home in two nights, having fallen to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.

Harden completed a double-double with a game-high 11 assists and eight rebounds, while Ivica Zubac had a double-double of his own with 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Collins chipped in with 21 points and three blocks for the Clippers, who dropped their fourth straight.

Cooper Flagg highlights vs. Clippers

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COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colorado – The U.S. women’s medal streak came to an end on home snow.

After having at least one skier on the podium at the first three World Cups this year, the Americans did not have anyone in the top 10 of Saturday’s giant slalom race at Copper Mountain. Nina O’Brien was the top U.S. finisher, in 11th place, while Mikaela Shiffrin made up some ground in the second run to finish 14th.

Paula Moltzan, the only other American to make the second run, crashed and did not finish.

‘This surface is so specific,’ Shiffrin said. ‘It’s just really difficult to be really fast, consistently, for the whole run. So watching the women who had come before me, especially the top women, I felt like there were some pretty obvious things that they were bringing into their turns that I could at least try for the second run, and I was able to execute that for like 90% of the run.

‘So I’m psyched because it’s hard to change your mentality between the first and second run of a race and to actually put that into play and execute it. And I feel like I was able to do that for the most part. And that’s a great direction for the coming races.’

Alice Robinson of New Zealand was first in both runs to get her fifth World Cup win, finishing with a combined time of 1:58.91. That was almost a second ahead of Austria’s Julia Scheib, who finished in 1:59.87. Thea Louise Stjernesund of Norway was third in 1:59.99.

The Americans came to Copper, a rare domestic World Cup, on a hot streak. Moltzan was second in the season’s first GS race with Shiffrin missing the podium by 0.15 seconds and O’Brien finishing sixth. Shiffrin then won the next two World Cups, both slaloms, with Moltzan getting top fives in both.

But the entire U.S. team struggled at Copper. Only three of the six Americans who started the first run qualified for the second. Keely Cashman (46th) and Tricia Mangan (48th) were outside the top 30, and Elisabeth Bocock and Kjersti Moritz did not finish the first run. Bocock crashed midway through and Moritz, who was making her World Cup debut, skied out near the top of the course.

The surface was the biggest challenge, Shiffrin said after finishing 18th in the first run, because pushing normally generates speed. On this snow, however, it didn’t.

‘But you still have to have the intensity,’ Shiffrin said. ‘It’s a little bit of a different feeling. Which is kind of interesting.’

It didn’t help that they’ve been bouncing around the globe for the last few weeks. Or that Copper is the first World Cup with two races and is at the highest altitude of any venue on the circuit.

‘It just kind of is what it is,’ Shiffrin said. ‘It’s where we are.’

There were positives to take from the race, though. Shiffrin said she’s happy with where her GS skiing is, and every race helps her build intensity and perfect her mentality. Her second run was much improved — she was 10th-fastest overall, and posted the fastest time on the third section of the course and fourth-fastest on the first.

Best of all, she finished the race.

On this same weekend last year, Shiffrin had a nasty crash during the second run of the GS at the World Cup in Killington, Vermont. She suffered a gash in her obliques that cost her the next two months of the season, and she experienced PTSD in the GS for the rest of the season.

Compared to that, Saturday’s race was a win.

‘The best thing is making it to the finish of the GS at this time of the year,’ Shiffrin said with a smile. ‘I would rank that above everything else.’

Florida State football traveled down to Gainesville looking to avoid what would be a historic loss in the annals of its rivalry with Florida.

The Seminoles, however, failed in their task.

Behind a three-touchdown day from quarterback DJ Lagway, the Gators defeated the Seminoles 40-21 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, ensuring that neither program will finish the regular season eligible for a bowl game. It is the first time that has happened in the same season since 1978, a year in which Florida went 4-7 and Florida State, despite going 8-3, did not receive a bowl invite.

The Gators will finish the regular season with a 4-8 overall record and a 1-4 record under interim head coach Billy Gonzales. Florida fired Billy Napier on Sunday, Oct. 22 after the Gators started the season with a 3-4 record, which included a top-10 ranked win over Texas.

As for the Seminoles, they will finish the season with a 5-7 record. It’s the Seminoles’ second consecutive season with at least six losses under Mike Norvell, and the fourth during his tenure. Despite the program’s struggles, FSU announced on Sunday, Nov. 23, that it will bring Norvell back for his seventh season in Tallahassee.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

The Vancouver Whitecaps will play in their first MLS Cup after defeating San Diego FC, 3-1, in the Western Conference final on Saturday, Nov. 29.

Brian White — Vancouver’s leading goal-scorer during the regular season — had a brace in the win at San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium.

The Whitecaps’ reward as the Western Conference’s representative in MLS Cup is a showdown with Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, which easily dispatched New York City FC in the Eastern Conference final. The 2025 MLS Cup will be held at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Saturday, Dec. 6 (2:30 p.m. ET on Apple TV and FOX).

Reaching MLS Cup is the latest milestone in what has been a monumental season under first-year head coach Jesper Sørensen. Earlier this year, Vancouver played in the Concacaf Champions Cup final, losing to Cruz Azul of Liga MX. Vancouver eliminated Messi and Inter Miami in the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals. The Whitecaps also won a fourth consecutive Canadian Championship.

Vancouver also is the first Canada-based MLS club since Toronto FC in 2019 to reach MLS Cup.

San Diego FC was aiming to become the first MLS expansion team to reach the league final since the Chicago Fire won MLS Cup in 1998. Instead, that quest fell two wins short of unprecedented championship glory.

Inter Miami and the Vancouver Whitecaps will be the 20th and 21st different clubs to appear in MLS Cup.

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. San Diego FC Western Conference final highlights

When is MLS Cup 2025?

Date and time: Saturday, Dec. 6 at 2:30 p.m. ET
Location: Chase Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
TV and streaming: FOX and Apple TV

USA TODAY Sports’ 48-page special edition commemorates 30 years of Major League Soccer, from its best players to key milestones and championship dynasties to what exciting steps are next with the World Cup ahead. Order your copy today!

One of the most convoluted conference championship races has gained some much-needed clarity.

No. 17 Virginia (10-2, 7-1 in ACC play) downed rival Virginia Tech 27-7 on Saturday, Nov. 29, clinching a berth in the ACC championship game in Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s a remarkable turnaround for Tony Elliott, whose first winning record in four seasons in Charlottesville coincides with a trip to the ACC championship — and a potential College Football Playoff berth.

And, following Southern Methodist’s 38-35 loss at Cal, it will be five-loss Duke (6-2 in ACC play) that makes the ACC championship.

Here’s what to know:

Who’s in ACC championship game?

Virginia has clinched a berth in the ACC championship game following the Cavaliers’ Week 14 win vs. rival Virginia Tech. The team that could most simply join Virginia in Charlotte, North Carolina is SMU, which was similarly in a ‘win-and-in’ situation vs. California.

Following the Mustangs’ loss to the Golden Bears, however, Duke (7-5, 6-2 in ACC play) will make the ACC title game by virtue of its 49-32 win over Wake Forest earlier on Nov. 29. The Blue Devils needed to beat the Demon Deacons, plus hope for a Miami win over Pitt and Cal win over SMU.

With that, the ACC title game is set.

ACC championship game how to watch

TV: ABC
Streaming: Fubo (free trial)

The ACC championship game will air nationally on ABC. Streaming options for the game include Fubo, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.

Stream ACC championship live with Fubo (free trial)

When is ACC championship game?

Date: Saturday, Dec. 6
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, N.C.)

The ACC championship game is scheduled to kick off at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 6 from Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

The Blue Devils, who have five losses on the season, were sent to the ACC championship game thanks to multiple factors on unfolding on the final day of the 2025 college football regular season. The officially cashed in on their long-shot with SMU’s missed field goal vs. California.

It’s the first trip to the conference championship for Duke under Manny Diaz, and the program’s first trip to the ACC championship game since 2013, when the Blue Devils fell to eventual national champion Florida State 45-7.

The Blue Devils will face No. 17 Virginia (No. 18 in College Football Playoff rankings) at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 6 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they will play for a trip to the 12-team CFP.

But on top of getting some help from Cal, how did Duke get into the conference title game when it has five overall losses on the season and went 6-2 in ACC play?

Here’s what to know on how Duke made the ACC championship game:

How did Duke football make ACC championship game?

Beat Wake Forest
Pitt loss to Miami
SMU loss to Cal 

For starters, the Blue Devils entered Week 14 needing to catch breaks — a Pitt loss to Miami and an SMU loss to Cal — on top of winning their own Week 14 game against Wake Forest.

Despite being out-gained on the day, Duke handled business by picking up a 49-32 win over Wake Forest. The Blue Devils turned four turnovers into 14 points in the win, while quarterback Darian Mensah and running backs Nate Sheppard and Anderson Castle all scored two touchdowns each.

Then, before even kicking off at Wallace Wade Stadium, the Blue Devils got some help from No. 13 Miami (No. 12 in CFP, as Carson Beck and Co. defeated No. 24 Pitt (No 22 in CFP), 38-7. There’s leg two of the parlay.

Then came the final leg of the parlay, as SMU fell 38-35 on the road to Cal. Mustangs kicker Sam Keltner missed the 52-yard game-tying field goal attempt as time expired to give Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and Cal the upset win over the No. 25 team in the country.

Following all that, the Blue Devils will make the 142-mile drive over to Charlotte from Durham. That gave Duke the tiebreaker because of a higher conference opponent winning percentage than Miami, SMU, Pitt and Georgia Tech.

ACC football standings

1. Virginia (7-1) *
T-2. Duke (6-2)
T-2. Miami (6-2)
T-2. Georgia Tech (6-2)
T-2. SMU (6-2)
T-2. Pitt (6-2)
T-7. Louisville (4-4)
T-7. Wake Forest (4-4)
T-7. NC State (4-4)
T-7. Cal (4-4)
T-7. Clemson (4-4)
12. Stanford (3-5)
T-13. Florida State (2-6)
T-13. Virginia Tech (2-6)
T-13. North Carolina (2-6)
T-16. Boston College (1-7)
T-16. Syracuse (1-7)

* ACC title game participants