ACC Football News & Notes: Six Teams, Two Spots, and a Weekend of Scoreboard Watching

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The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is heading into the final weekend of its regular season with an unprecedented level of chaos, as six different teams remain mathematically alive for the two spots in the ACC Football Championship Game on Saturday, December 6, in Charlotte. With three teams—Virginia, Pitt, and SMU—tied at the top with a 6-1 conference record, the final result will be a complex puzzle involving multi-team tiebreakers and the rare use of an analytical ranking system.

Fans are guaranteed an intense Saturday of scoreboard watching as they track the results of critical matchups, most notably No. 12 Miami at No. 22 Pitt, and Wake Forest at Duke, alongside the fate of the two teams that control their own destiny: Virginia and SMU.

The Teams That Control Their Fate

Two teams have the simplest paths: if they win their final game, they are in the championship.

Virginia (6-1 ACC): The Cavaliers clinch a spot with a WIN against Virginia Tech.
SMU (6-1 ACC): The Mustangs clinch a spot with a WIN against California.

The Complex Paths: Where the Tiebreakers Reign

The scenarios become dizzying when ties involving three or more teams must be broken, often involving the use of the SportsSource Analytics Team Rating Score as the final tiebreaker after head-to-head results and common opponent records are exhausted.

Pittsburgh (6-1 ACC)

It is relatively simple for the Panthers: they clinch a spot with a WIN against Miami AND either Virginia loses to Virginia Tech OR SMU loses to Cal.

Duke (5-2 ACC)

The Blue Devils, despite their five total losses, have a path. Their chances rely on:

A WIN against Wake Forest.
Losses by Pittsburgh and SMU.
A loss by Virginia (which creates a multi-team tie that favors Duke in some scenarios).

Georgia Tech (6-2 ACC)

The Yellow Jackets need a wave of chaos in the 6-1 tier to move up.

Their best path involves a Virginia loss to Virginia Tech AND an SMU loss to Cal.
In this scenario, Georgia Tech must also benefit from the outcome of the Miami vs. Pitt game and the Duke vs. Wake Forest game to win the final tiebreaker.

Miami (5-2 ACC)

The highest-ranked ACC team in the CFP rankings (No. 12) needs the most help, as their path is convoluted and often rests on the SportsSource Analytics ranking. One example of their path is:

A WIN against Pittsburgh AND a SMU win against Cal AND a Duke loss to Wake Forest AND a Virginia Tech win over Virginia.

Another scenario involves multiple losses by the 6-1 teams and favorable results in the North Carolina vs. NC State and Boston College vs. Syracuse games, ultimately hinging on Miami finishing higher than both Georgia Tech and SMU in the SportsSource Analytics ranking.

If you can successfully navigate all of that, you are truly a master of college football tiebreakers. Needless to say, the final regular season weekend in the ACC will be one of the most unpredictable and dramatic in conference history.