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Duke upsets Virginia in overtime to claim ACC title, possibly shaking up CFP picture

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Duke upsets Virginia in overtime to claim ACC title, possibly shaking up CFP picture


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Duke sent the College Football Playoff picture into uncertainty with a stunning overtime win on Saturday.

The Blue Devils won their first outright ACC championship since 1962 with a 27-20 victory over Virginia.

Duke quarterback Darian Mensah connected with tight end Jeremiah Hasley for a 1-yard touchdown on a fourth-down play in overtime, in what would be the deciding score.

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Duke Blue Devils quarterback Darian Mensah (10) looks to pass during over time against the Virginia Cavaliers during the 2025 ACC Championship game at Bank of America Stadium.  (Jim Dedmon/Imagn Images)

Virginia quarterback Chandler Morris was intercepted by Duke’s Luke Mergott on the Cavaliers’ first offensive play of overtime.

Duke last won a share of the ACC regular-season title in 1989, sharing it with Virginia in Steve Spurrier’s final season as the Blue Devils’ coach. The conference championship game was created in 2005, and Duke got there this year thanks to a five-team tiebreaker.

NOTRE DAME’S MARCUS FREEMAN MAKES CASE FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF 

Duke's Dan Mahan (12) celebrates defeating the Virginia Cavaliers during the 2025 ACC Championship game at Bank of America Stadium. 

Duke’s Dan Mahan (12) celebrates defeating the Virginia Cavaliers during the 2025 ACC Championship game at Bank of America Stadium.  (Jim Dedmon/Imagn Images)

Virginia, the ACC regular-season champion, would have reached the CFP for the first time in school history with a victory. While Duke is still unlikely to make the playoff field, the win opens the door for a second Group of Five team — likely James Madison — to sneak in.

JMU alums Ben Overby and James Turner were even at the game to support Duke.

“Nothing against UVA,” Turner said excitedly, “but we’re just here to support Duke.”

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Wesley Williams

Duke Blue Devils defensive end Wesley Williams (97) celebrates with safety DaShawn Stone (8) after defeating the Virginia Cavaliers during the 2025 ACC Championship game at Bank of America Stadium. (Jim Dedmon/Imagn Images)

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips argued this week that his league deserved two bids: one for No. 12 Miami as the league’s highest-ranked team, the other for the Duke-Virginia winner as the league’s champion.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Betting Texans-Chiefs: Picks, props and DFS plays for ‘Sunday Night Football’

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Betting Texans-Chiefs: Picks, props and DFS plays for ‘Sunday Night Football’


Sunday’s Week 14 slate wraps up with the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Houston Texans on “Sunday Night Football.”

Both teams are trying to claw their way into the playoffs. The Texans are right back in the thick of things after winning four straight. At 7-5, they are a game back of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South and -150 to make the playoffs. The 6-6 Chiefs, who were the Super Bowl favorite as recently as Week 11, are now +120 to even reach the playoffs.

The Texans and Chiefs met twice last season, once in the regular season and again in the divisional round, with Kansas City winning both games.

The Chiefs head into Sunday night’s matchup as 3.5-point favorites.

Matt Bowen, Liz Loza, Pamela Maldonado and Eric Moody offer their picks, prop bets, DFS plays and analysis to help you bet the game.

Note: Odds provided by DraftKings and subject to change.


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Picks | Props | DFS tips | Trends



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Champ Week live: A new No. 1, is Bama out and ACC chaos

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Champ Week live: A new No. 1, is Bama out and ACC chaos


We’re just hours from the announcement of the College Football Playoff field. There’s plenty of drama left to play out on the field.

The committee is gathered at its headquarters in the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas, to watch conference championship games that will impact their final ranking on Selection Day. It was only the beginning of conference championship weekend, but how these games unfolded with the committee watching will determine their five highest-ranked conference champions — and how that order will impact the contenders around them.

We’re tracking all the conference title games and the impact on the CFP field as well as the top plays and highlights from No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Indiana.

Jump to: CFP takeaways


Conference title takeaways

With Duke’s win against Virginia, the five-loss ACC champion Blue Devils will likely be excluded from the field in favor of No. 25 James Madison, which won the Sun Belt. The five highest-ranked conference champions are guaranteed spots in the playoff, and this opens the door for two of those five to come from the American and Sun Belt conferences. This became a realistic scenario when the committee ranked JMU — and not Duke — in its fifth ranking. This means Tulane will earn the No. 11 seed and JMU will get the No. 12 seed as the fifth and final conference champion.


With Indiana’s win against Ohio State, the Hoosiers will earn the committee’s No. 1 spot on Selection Day and the No. 1 overall seed. IU earned the best win in the country, and it also has a double-digit top-five road win against Oregon. Because it was such a close game, and Ohio State’s only loss is to the committee’s No. 2 team, it’s likely to drop only one spot to No. 2.


With the win against Alabama, Georgia should lock up a top-four seed and a first-round bye, but that position depends in part on how far the loser of the Big Ten championship game falls. It’s possible Ohio State and Indiana just flip — or stay status quo.

The bigger question is how far Alabama drops following its decisive third loss. If Alabama sinks to No. 11, it will open the door for both Notre Dame and Miami to finish in the top 10 — regardless of order. Because of how Alabama lost — and the committee hasn’t forgotten the season-opening loss to Florida State — the Crimson Tide could fall out of the field. The committee also will consider that Alabama has a regular-season road win against the SEC champs, though. If Alabama drops only one spot, it could still be a buffer between Miami and Notre Dame — and it could be the last at-large team in at No. 10.


Texas Tech’s win against BYU secured a top-four finish and a first-round bye for the Red Raiders. It also helped Notre Dame’s playoff chances tremendously, as the Irish no longer have to be concerned about being leapfrogged by BYU.

This puzzle is far from complete, though.

It doesn’t matter for BYU if the committee keeps it at No. 11 or drops it to No. 12 (or beyond). Either way BYU would be bumped out during the seeding process to include a conference champion. Where BYU lands, though, will impact Miami.

The selection committee is most likely to do one of two things: drop No. 11 BYU to No. 12 behind Miami, or keep it exactly where it is. If BYU falls below the Canes, the committee could reconsider the tiebreaker between Miami and Notre Dame.


With Tulane’s win against North Texas on Friday, the American champs locked up a spot in the playoff, as they will be the committee’s fourth-highest-ranked conference champion. The Green Wave will earn the No. 11 or No. 12 seed, depending on who wins the ACC championship game. If Tulane gets the No. 11 seed and faces the committee’s No. 6 team on the road in the first round, as things stand now, Tulane will get a rematch against Ole Miss. The Rebels beat Tulane 45-10 on Sept. 20 in Oxford, and they will have home-field advantage again as the higher seed.


With Friday’s win against Troy, JMU‘s path to the playoff is straightforward: Duke needs to beat Virginia and win the ACC. If that happens, the committee will reward JMU with the No. 12 seed as its fifth and final conference champion — and it would come at the expense of the ACC champion, which would be excluded. The question is if the conference will be excluded entirely, though — or if No. 12 Miami will still sneak in, even without playing this weekend. That could happen if BYU loses to Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game and drops behind Miami — putting the Canes right below No. 10 Notre Dame. In that scenario, the committee could look at Miami’s season-opening win against the Irish as one of several tiebreakers it uses to separate comparable teams.



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Tearful Norris claims ‘amazing’ Formula One world champion | The Express Tribune

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Tearful Norris claims ‘amazing’ Formula One world champion | The Express Tribune


The 26-year-old is the first McLaren driver to win title since Lewis Hamilton in 2008

Lando Norris waves to his fans as he contemplates the magnitude of his achievement. Photo: AFP


ABU DHABI:

A tearful Lando Norris claimed his maiden Formula One world drivers’ title in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, ending Max Verstappen’s four-year reign.

The Briton finished third in the season-closer behind race winner Verstappen and the other title challenger, McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, to claim the crown by two points.

After crossing the line his team engineer told him: “That’s it mate, you are world champion, world champion!”

“Thank you guys, you made a kid’s dream come true,” he replied.

“I haven’t cried in awhile, I didn’t think I would cry but I did,” Norris said on the podium in the desert night at the floodlit Yas Marina circuit.

“I want to thank my mum, my dad, they’ve supported me since the beginning.

“It feels amazing, I know now what Max feels like a little bit. I want to congratulate both Max and Oscar, I’ve enjoyed it, it’s been a long year!” he added.

McLaren, headed by team principal Andrea Stella and CEO Brown, secured back-to-back constructors’ titles in Singapore last month.

“That was exciting, a little too exciting, awesome,” said Brown.

“What an effort, Lando and Oscar, what a fantastic season!” added the American.

Norris becomes Britain’s first world champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2020 with this 13th drivers’ crown for McLaren.

The 26-year-old’s success comes over half a century after Emerson Fittipaldi claimed the British marque’s first drivers’ title in 1974.

A galaxy of F1 greats followed – James Hunt (1976), Niki Lauda (1984), Alain Prost (1985, 1986, 1989), Ayrton Senna (1988, 1990, 1991), Mikka Hakkinen (1998, 1999) and Hamilton in 2008.

Assessing his path to glory Norris added: “As we’ve seen many times, anything can happen. So I just kept pushing. I wanted to fight to the end. (Verstappen and Piastri) certainly did not make my life easy this year. But I am happy!

“It has been a long journey with McLaren, I’ve been with them for nine years.

“For me to bring something back to them, I feel like I did my part for the team this year so I’m proud of myself.”

Piastri, who had led the championship for much of the season before being overtaken by Norris in Mexico, finished third in the standings.

Sunday’s season-closer was the first time the title was decided by a contest involving more than two drivers since a four-way scrap at the final race in Abu Dhabi in 2010.



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