It’s down to three teams for spot in ACC Championship Game. Breaking down the scenarios
The competition to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game is down to three teams: The SMU Mustangs, Miami Hurricanes and Clemson Tigers.
With two weeks left in the regular season, Clemson finished its conference schedule 7-1, while SMU is 6-0 and Miami is 5-1 with two ACC opponents left to play apiece. Everyone else in the ACC has at least three league losses.
Miami’s final two ACC games are home against Wake Forest on Nov. 23 and at Syracuse on Nov. 30. SMU’s final two league opponents are at Virginia on Nov. 23 and home against Cal on Nov. 30.
Below is a breakdown for all the possible scenarios for the conference title game on Dec. 7 in Charlotte.
SMU Mustangs vs. Miami Hurricanes
If SMU wins at least one of its final two games and Miami wins both of its remaining games, then the Mustangs and Hurricanes will both advance to the ACC Championship Game.
In this scenario, SMU will either be 8-0 or 7-1 in conference play, while Miami and Clemson will both be 7-1. The tiebreaker situations are as follows:
▪ SMU goes 8-0 in conference play, Miami and Clemson go 7-1: Since Miami and Clemson did not play each other, the tiebreaker would be win percentage against common opponents. UM and Clemson have four common opponents this season: FSU, Wake Forest, Louisville and Virginia Tech. In this scenario, Miami goes 4-0 against those teams, while Clemson is 3-1 because of its loss to Louisville.
▪ SMU, Miami and Clemson all go 7-1 in conference play: Since Miami, SMU and Clemson did not play each other, the three-way tiebreaker scenario here would be similar to the one above — win percentage against all common opponents.
The Hurricanes, Mustangs and Tigers have two common opponents this year: the FSU Seminoles and Louisville Cardinals.
Miami and SMU each went 2-0 against FSU and Louisville. Clemson lost to Louisville.
Therefore, it would be an SMU-Miami conference championship game in this scenario.
Miami Hurricanes vs. Clemson Tigers
There only scenarios for a Miami-Clemson ACC Championship Game would be if Miami wins at least one of its remaining games AND SMU loses both of its remaining games.
If Miami wins out and SMU loses its final two, that would put both Miami and Clemson at 7-1 in ACC play, while SMU would be 6-2.
If Miami splits and SMU drops both, then the Hurricanes and Mustangs would both be 6-2 in conference play. Since Miami and SMU did not play each other, the tiebreaker would be win percentage against common opponents. UM and SMU have four common opponents this season: FSU, Louisville, Duke and Cal. In this scenario, Miami goes 4-0 against those teams, while SMU would 3-1 with a loss to Cal.
SMU Mustangs vs. Clemson Tigers
If Miami loses at least one of final two games AND SMU wins at least one of its final two, it will be a Clemson-SMU conference championship game. UM would have at least two conference losses in this scenario, Clemson will only have one conference loss and SMU at most would have one conference loss.
This story was originally published November 16, 2024 at 7:48 PM.
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