By: Ryan Moreland (@ryanmoreland)
We enter the final week of the season and the playoff races are coming to a close. In the ACC there is a de facto conference championship game upcoming. But before we get to that, let’s take a quick refresher on the tiebreakers and how to get into the playoffs. Here are the tiebreakers in order:
| Order | Tiebreaker |
| 1 | Conference Record |
| 2 | Head-to-Head |
| 3 | Record vs common conference opponents |
| 4 | Point differential vs common conference opponents |
| 5 | Record vs common overall opponents |
| 6 | Point differential vs common overall opponents |
| 7 | Overall record |
| 8 | Overall point differential |
Since every conference team will eventually play each other, most ties will end at head-to-head. However, there can be scenarios that take us much deeper (just look at the ACC last season).
Now, for how the playoffs work. The top three teams in each conference will get an automatic bid into the playoffs. After that has been settled, then the last 4 teams will be voted in by a league-wide vote. After the field is set, seeding will begin. This season, the top 8 teams will be seeded and then they will get to draft their opening-round opponents (which I cannot wait to write content about).
I cannot predict which way the vote will go, so for these articles, I will be focusing on the automatic bids.
Current Standings
| Team | Overall Record | Conference Record |
| Miami | 6-1 | 4-0 |
| Florida State | 6-1 | 4-0 |
| North Carolina | 4-3 | 2-2 |
| Clemson | 1-6 | 1-3 |
| Virginia Tech | 2-5 | 1-3 |
| Notre Dame | 0-7 | 0-4 |
Both tiebreakers are based on point differential against common conference opponents. These won’t matter soon because the teams that are tied play each other this week.
Conference Title Race
The conference title race is down to the Florida teams and they play each other this week. The schedule worked out perfectly this season in the ACC so that Miami vs Florida State will be a de facto conference championship game. The winner will finish first and the loser will take over the second spot. This game is so big that it will be the first game played on Monday night to kick off Rivalry Week.
Playoff Race
The top three spots are spoken for. As stated earlier, Miami and Florida State will finish in the top 2 no matter what. North Carolina has locked up the third spot no matter what happens. Both Clemson and Virginia Tech could tie North Carolina, but the Tar Heels beat both teams head-to-head and would win the tiebreaker. No matter what happens, North Carolina has the 3rd spot in the conference locked down.
The is a potential for the ACC to earn a vote-in spot this season. However, it is very unlikely that they earn two. That means that the battle between Virginia Tech and Clemson could be a win-or-go-home scenario. It is impossible to know for sure how the league will vote, but it is hard to imagine both getting in. Both teams best bring their A-game on Thursday night.
Overall, the ACC is pretty straightforward this season, which is a lot different than what we got last year out of the conference. Good luck to all the ACC teams this week.
