​Manny Diaz and Duke football have a lot to prove to college football analysts heading into the 2026 season.The reigning ACC champion Blue Devils enter the schedule looking to repeat as conference winners for the first time since winning three straight from 1960-62, but most in the media aren’t giving Diaz’s squad much of a shot of that happening.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn his ACC preseason predictions, USA TODAY Sports has the Blue Devils finishing 12th out of 17 teams in the conference. What might hurt more is the fact that he has Miami and former Duke quarterback Darian Mensah winning the conference, and the Hurricanes returning to the College Football Playoff, where they lost to Indiana in the national title game last season.Glenesk left all Duke players off his first-team All-ACC teams, including running back Nate Sheppard, who rushed for a program-record 1,132 yards and 11 touchdowns for a freshman last season.ClemsonVirginiaGeorgia TechPittsburghFlorida StateNorth Carolina StateWake ForestSyracuseThis article originally appeared on Duke Wire: Duke picked to finish in bottom half of ACC football standings