CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – In pursuit of its first outright ACC championship and possible berth in the College Football Playoff, No. 16/17 Virginia (10-2, 7-1 ACC) takes on Duke (7-5, 6-2 ACC) in the 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship game Saturday night (Dec. 6). The 21st edition of the ACC Championship is set to air in primetime at 8 p.m. on ABC, the Virginia Sports Radio Network and ESPN Radio. 

The Cavaliers are making their second appearance in the title game, also UVA’s first since 2019 when it faced the then-reigning ACC and national champion Clemson Tigers. 

In its Week 12 matchup in Durham earlier this season, Virginia stifled the Blue Devils, 34-17, after leading by as many as 28 points in the fourth quarter. Duke, one of the league’s most prolific offenses, was held to season lows in several categories, including total offense (255), rushing yards (42), passing yards (213), pass completions (18), points scored (17) and first downs (11). For the Cavaliers, tailback J’Mari Taylor (18 rushes, 133 yards, 2 TD) and wide receiver Trell Harris (8 rec, 161 yards, 1 TD) helped UVA finish with 540 yards of total offense, its fourth output of at least 500 yards this season. Full Game Preview →

INSIDE SATURDAY’S MATCHUP 

• Virginia will make its second appearance in the ACC Championship game, its only other appearance coming in 2019 against Clemson, whose co-offensive coordinator was Tony Elliott. 
• The Cavaliers are amid their second 10-win season in the 136-year history of the program. The only other 10-win campaign came in 1989 under Hall of Fame Coach George Welsh. Current UVA defensive ends coach Chris Slade, the ACC’s all-time leader in sacks, was a first year on the ’89 squad. 
• The Cavaliers finished 7-1 in the ACC with its lone blemish coming at home against Wake Forest (Nov. 8), a game in which quarterback Chandler Morris exited in the second quarter due to injury. 
• At 7-1 in the ACC, Virginia matched its best record in league play and marked the first time ever UVA has finished alone atop the league standings. The Cavaliers have never won the league outright, winning shares in 1989 (6-1) and 1995 (7-1) before the ACC title game began determining the league champion in 2005. 
• Virginia and Duke will play for the second time this season. UVA has not played an opponent twice in one season since defeating Richmond both times in 1906. The other five occasions in which UVA played the same team two times in the same season occurred in the 1890s. 
• The Cavaliers became bowl-eligible by winning six of their first seven games. The last time Virginia was bowl-eligible was in 2021, when the Fenway Bowl was canceled due to COVID issues. UVA’s last bowl appearance was the 2019 Orange Bowl against Florida. 
• For the first time since 2019, Virginia appeared in the AP Poll on Sept. 28 after its upset win over then-No. 8 Florida State and has been nationally ranked for 10 consecutive weeks, its longest tenure in the AP Top 25 since 2004. 
• Virginia returns to Bank of America Stadium for the first time since the 2019 ACC Championship and boasts a 3-1 record in the home of the Carolina Panthers, with wins in the 2018 Belk Bowl and the 2003 & 2004 Continental Tire Bowls. The Cavaliers have played in an NFL Stadium in seven of the last eight seasons, a span that includes a signature win by Elliott over then-No. 23 Pitt last season at Acrisure Stadium (Pittsburgh, Pa.). 
• Virginia is 4-1 in games away from Scott Stadium this season, and over the past two years owns a 7-4 mark on the road. The Cavaliers have won four straight games away from Charlottesville, including a 34-17 win over Duke (Nov. 15) in Durham. 

TOP STORYLINES

• Virginia was picked to finish 14th in the league’s preseason media poll and will now compete for its first outright ACC Championship in program history. The Cavaliers were 5-7 last season and its five-win improvement from last season is tied for the fourth best in FBS this year and tied for the best year-to-year improvement in school history (1986-87 & 1892-1893).
• Virginia and Duke will play for the second time in 21 days. The Cavaliers never trailed in a dominant 34-17 win in Durham (Nov. 15). The Cavaliers held the Blue Devils to season lows in total offense (255) rushing yards (42), passing yards (213), pass completions (18), points scored (17) and first downs (11). On offense, UVA doubled Duke’s total yardage (540 to 255), led by 133 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Charlotte native J’Mari Taylor.
• The Cavalier defense has been dominant in the back half of the season. Over its last five games, all ACC contests, UVA has held opponents to 15.4 points per game. The Cavaliers have forced turnovers in nine of its 12 games this season and are 9-0 this season when forcing at least one turnover.
• Led by Taylor, the Cavaliers boast the third-best rushing attack in the ACC, averaging 188.7 yards per game. Taylor won the ACC’s regular season rushing title with 997 yards and is looking for his second-straight 1,000-yard season (1,146 at NC Central in 2024). The Cavaliers haven’t had a 1,000-yard back since Jordan Ellis in 2018, who went over the 1K mark at Bank of America Stadium in the shutout win over South Carolina at the 2018 Belk Bowl.

NUMBERS TO KNOW