NCAA Football
2025-12-31 - Arizona State Sun Devils at Duke Blue Devils
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : College Football Sun Bowl
Wednesday 31st December 2025 - Scheduled 2pm
7pm (British Time)
Preview
There will be some disappointment that winning the ACC Championship was not enough for the Duke Blue Devils (8-5) to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff. Instead they are entering the Sun Bowl, but there is still a real motivation for the Blue Devils to finish with a flourish and round out a very successful 2025.
The opponent is the Arizona State Sun Devils (8-4) who had a top four Seed in the College Football Playoff last season as Big 12 Champions, but who fell a couple of wins short of earning a return to the Championship Game in 2025. Another winning record has to be respected and the Sun Devils will also want to make amends after losing the final regular season game to rivals Arizona.
Arizona State will be going into the Bowl Game with a backup Quarter Back and a number of others already opting out with the next stage of the career in focus.
Jeff Sims has experience having ended the regular season for the Sun Devils and he may be given some support by the ground game, which could be key for a Quarter Back who has had 7 Touchdowns, but also 5 Interceptions.
He will have to be aware of the Duke Secondary and the ability they have shown to turn the ball over through the air.
Those could be a key factor in the final outcome of this Bowl Game, especially if Duke can pick up from where they left off in the regular season when winning three games in a row, including the ACC Championship Game upset over the Virginia Cavaliers.
There are some important players missing out, but Duke do have Quarter Back Darian Mensah available and there is a feeling that the motivation is much higher within the camp than when a host of players withdrew in the Bowl Game at the end of the 2024 season.
The likelihood is that the outcome of this Bowl Game is going to rest on the Darian Mensah arm- the Blue Devils have not been able to run the ball with much consistency all season, and the Arizona State Defensive Line have been very strong at the Line of Scrimmage to suggest this is going to be something that the Sun Devils should be able to control.
However, Darian Mensah has over 3500 passing yards and added 30 Touchdowns and will certainly feel that this Arizona State Secondary is going to have a tough time stopping the Blue Devils through the air.
Duke's Offensive Line should offer Mensah time when he drops back to throw and that may end up proving to be the difference in favour of the ACC Champion.
Both teams should have successes when they have the ball, but Duke may just outlast the Arizona State Sun Devils and they can just about cover this line.
Prediction
Lay the points with the ACC Champions even if they are disappointed at missing out on the College Football Playoff.
The Pick :
Duke Blue Devils 28-24 Arizona State Sun Devils
