Duke’s start has been impossible to ignore on the field. The strange part is how easy it’s still been for the national polls to look away.
The Blue Devils are 3-0, have already beaten two Power Four opponents, and sit as the defending ACC champions. They opened the season by knocking off last year’s College Football Playoff team, Tulane, then went on the road and beat Big Ten foe Illinois before rolling past ACC opponent Stanford in Durham last weekend. Even with that résumé, Duke remains unranked in both major polls.
The AP voters have them all the way down at ninth in the “others receiving votes” category. ESPN’s David Hale pointed out this week that, under Manny Diaz, that kind of treatment has become familiar.
“Duke is 3-0 with a road win over Illinois and is still NINTH in "others receiving votes" and it's no surprise... The AP voters are not Blue Devils fans. pic.twitter.com/zyZtBW54eq
- 💫🅰️♈️🆔 (@ADavidHaleJoint) September 20, 2026”
The bigger point is just how far outside the national conversation Duke still sits. Since the beginning of the 2024 season, there have been 20 teams that have won at least 21 games. Every one of them has shown up in at least 10 of the 38 AP polls during that span.
Duke is the lone exception.
Back-to-back nine-win seasons, an ACC championship, and now this 3-0 start have still produced zero AP appearances. None. Zilch.
That’s why the “nobody believes in us” line carries real weight here. Diaz can lean on it because, at least for now, it fits.
Most teams use that kind of talk as fuel. Duke doesn’t have to fake it.
The national buzz may be slow to catch up, but it is starting to move. William & Mary this weekend won’t change much, yet the conversation has begun to shift. Hale kicked it off Sunday, and CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli picked it up Monday on the Cover 3 podcast while praising Nate Sheppard.
“Duke, to me, is one of the teams that is getting absolutely no respect so far,” Fornelli said. “If we talk about strength of record and resumes and all that kind of stuff, they've got one of the better resumes in the country to this point.
They are one of those teams with two Power Four wins, and there's only eight of them in the country that can say that. And they are the defending ACC champion.
Maybe the drop-off wasn't as big as we thought it was gonna be because Darian Mensah went to Miami. Maybe this team is still pretty good.
Maybe Manny Diaz's defense is going to help them win games, and if Nate Sheppard keeps at this pace, they're a team that might still be in the running to get to Charlotte at the end of the year.”
Duke still has work to do, especially in the passing game if it wants to look like a true ACC contender. But the defense has clearly taken a step, and Sheppard has emerged as one of the best players in the nation. That combination can carry a team a long way.
For now, the story is simple: Duke has been better than expected, and the outside world is only just beginning to notice.
In Other News...
Dukes 3-0 Start Comes With One Concern Fans Cant Ignore
Dukes 3-0 start has put the Blue Devils in the thick of the early-season conversation, with two nonconference wins and an ACC victory giving the program a clean opening stretch. But the unbeaten record has not come with universal confidence, and the biggest question around this team is whether the offense can keep doing enough when so much of it has flowed through running back Nate Sheppard.
ESPNs Bill Connelly reflected some of that skepticism in his latest ranking, placing Duke 26th among the 35 unbeaten teams. The broader projection picture is similarly measured, with ESPNs analysts seeing the Blue Devils more in line for a bowl path such as the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl or the Freedom Mortgage Military Bowl, which leaves the idea of a perfect regular season feeling a lot more like a long shot than a destination. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Is Mourning A Sudden Loss Tied Closely To Coach K
Chris Spatolas death has brought a sudden wave of grief around Duke and the wider college basketball world, where he was known not only as an ESPN analyst but also as a former member of the Blue Devils staff. Duke University and ESPN both confirmed his passing on Sept. 21, and each offered public tributes that reflected the range of roles he filled over the years, from broadcaster to coach to Army veteran.
For Duke fans, Spatolas connection to the program carried an added layer of meaning because of how closely he was tied to Coach Ks orbit. His work on television kept him visible to college basketball viewers long after his days on campus, but his passing leaves a more personal loss around the program, with the full circumstances still not publicly explained. [Read more 🡒]
Manny Diaz Sent Duke Fans A Message With His Opening Gamble
Dukes fast start under Manny Diaz has done more than pad the record. After a 35-7 win over Stanford in Week 3, the Blue Devils moved to 3-0 and kept building the case that they can be more than just a spoiler in the ACC. The defense has been especially sharp, allowing only six points in the second half across its first three games, and the overall tone around the program has shifted from hopeful to assertive.
What stood out against Stanford was the message Duke sent before the game really settled in. Diaz framed the opening sequence as part of a broader approach, a deliberate effort to show his team wanted to attack the moment instead of easing into it. For a program trying to establish itself as a legitimate conference threat, that kind of early gamble says a lot about where the Blue Devils think they are headed. [Read more 🡒]