Despite an eight-game winning streak and a dominant ground game, the undefeated Blue Devils remain unranked while struggling SEC programs cling to Top 25 spots.
Duke continues to pile up wins under head coach Manny Diaz, but many around college football would rather not factor in the Blue Devils.
Duke is on an eight-game winning streak that includes the ACC championship. The Blue Devils were kept out of the College Football Playoff last year because they had five losses, but they beat Arizona State in the Sun Bowl.
Early in the offseason, it was a thought that Duke could make the CFP this year. That narrative changed as soon as quarterback Darian Mensah and receiver Cooper Barkate transferred to Miami.
The product Diaz has put on the field hasn't been bad at all this season. Duke earned a 31-27 win over Illinois in Week 2 before crushing Stanford 35-7. (Stanford isn't a pushover this season; they're 2-2 with a loss to Miami and beat Georgia Tech in Week 4.)
Still, Duke got no credit. They will end their bye week unranked, with star running back Nate Sheppard outrushing Florida's Jadan Baugh this season 644-600. One-loss teams like Boise State, SMU, Houston, and Missouri are ranked this week. Mizzou is the most questionable after losing 31-24 to Mississippi State on Saturday.
During "Josh Pate's College Football Show" on Sunday, the host argued that Duke should be ranked, and definitely above Missouri.
Missouri being conveniently placed at No. 25 reeks of SEC bias. Since 2024, AP voters have loved to overrate the Tigers, dropping them only a couple of spots when they inevitably lose to the big boys of the conference.
In 2024, they didn't drop a spot after losing to South Carolina in November, but gained spots after beating Arkansas in the final week of the season.
Last year, Mizzou was continually pushed as a ranked team until it suffered its fourth loss of the season, to Oklahoma, the third time the Tigers lost by a touchdown or more. By the way, Missouri lost to Virginia, who Duke beat in the ACC championship, in the Gator Bowl.
The only reason Missouri is remaining in the rankings is so SEC teams that beat them can have a silly ranking number by their box score when it comes to checking resumes before the College Football Playoff.
Should Missouri be ranked over Duke? Absolutely not, but it would do far more damage to the SEC's and Big Ten's credibility to give rankings to other conference's teams.
Currently, the SEC has nine teams in the Top 25. The highest voted "others that are receiving votes include: Big Ten's Wisconsin, ACC's Duke, Big Ten's Penn State, ACC's Wake Forest, ACC's Virginia Tech, Big Ten's Michigan, ACC's Pittsburgh.
