Hurricanes still have chance for ACC title game. What must happen in final week
The No. 13 Miami Hurricanes did their job Saturday by beating the Virginia Tech Hokies 34-17 at Lane Stadium.
The Hurricanes also got the one piece of external help that had to happen — the Pittsburgh Panthers beating the No. 16 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 42-28 — to ensure they will enter the final week of the regular season still with a mathematical chance to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game on Dec. 6 in Charlotte.
With one week left in the regular season, here is a look at the current ACC landscape, including full standings for the 17-team league, and what it would take for Miami to get to the conference title game for just the second time and first time since 2017.
ACC game results this week
No. 13 Miami Hurricanes 34, Virginia Tech Hokies 17
Pittsburgh Panthers 42, No. 16 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 28
No. 9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 70, Syracuse Orange 7
SMU Mustangs 38, Louisville Cardinals 6
Duke Blue Devils 32, North Carolina Tar Heels 25
Stanford Cardinal 31, California Golden Bears 10
NC State Wolfpack 21, Florida State Seminoles 11
Wake Forest Demon Deacons 52, Delaware Fighting Blue Hens 14
Clemson Tigers 45, Furman Paladins 10
ACC standings after Week 10
Virginia: 9-2, 6-1 ACC
SMU: 8-3, 6-1 ACC
Pittsburgh: 8-3, 6-1 ACC
Georgia Tech: 9-2, 6-2 ACC
Duke: 6-5, 5-2 ACC
Miami: 9-2, 5-2 ACC
Wake Forest: 8-3, 4-3 ACC
Clemson: 6-5, 4-4 ACC
Louisville: 7-4, 4-4 ACC
California: 6-5, 3-4 ACC
N.C. State: 6-5, 3-4 ACC
Stanford: 4-7, 3-5 ACC
Virginia Tech: 3-8, 2-5 ACC
North Carolina: 4-7, 2-5 ACC
Florida State: 5-6, 2-6 ACC
Syracuse: 3-8, 1-6 ACC
Boston College: 1-10, 0-7 ACC
ACC games next week
No. 13 Miami at Pittsburgh
Virginia Tech at No. 19 Virginia
SMU at California
Wake Forest at Duke
North Carolina at NC State
Boston College at Syracuse
The Miami Hurricanes’ path to the ACC Championship Game
If the season ended today, Miami would be sixth in the conference standings. Three teams still have just one league loss in Virginia, SMU and Pittsburgh, each with one conference game left on their schedule next week. From there, Georgia Tech has finished its league schedule at 6-2, while Miami and Duke are each 5-2 in ACC action.
So what needs to happen for the Hurricanes to slip into the ACC Championship Game?
First and foremost, Miami needs to close the regular season with a road win over Pittsburgh. That would give the Hurricanes a 6-2 record in conference play and knocks Pitt down into the logjam of conference teams with two losses.
Beyond that, Miami needs two of SMU (against Cal), Duke (against Wake Forest) and Virginia (against Virginia Tech) to lose. But even then, the results of the NC State-UNC and Syracuse-Boston College games could come into play as they will impact the conference opponent win percentage (which will be the main tiebreaker for all the two-loss teams). Wins by NC State and Syracuse (both of whom the Hurricanes played) would benefit Miami.
That said, here are all of the Hurricanes’ ACC Championship Game possibilities:
1.) SMU wins, Duke and Virginia lose: Miami and SMU advance regardless of the NC State-UNC and Syracuse-Boston College results.
2.) Duke wins, SMU and Virginia lose: Miami faces Duke in the ACC Championship Game IF NC State also beats UNC.
3.) Virginia wins, Duke and SMU lose: Miami faces Virginia in the ACC Championship Game IF both Syracuse beats Boston College AND NC State beats UNC
4.) Duke, SMU and Virginia all lose: Miami makes it into the ACC Championship Game IF one of Syracuse OR NC State wins its regular-season finale. The ACC Championship permutations in this scenario...
-Syracuse win and NC State loss: Virginia vs. Miami
-NC State win and Syracuse loss: Miami vs. Georgia Tech
-NC State and Syracuse loss: Virginia vs. one of Miami, Georgia Tech or SMU, who will be in a three-way tie for second that will be decided based on the SportSource Rating Score.
Which teams have the inside track for the ACC Championship?
SMU and Virginia.
If the Mustangs and Cavaliers win their regular-season finales against Cal and Virginia Tech, respectively, they are in the ACC Championship Game.
Pittsburgh also has a relatively clear path to Charlotte: The Panthers need to beat Miami AND have one of SMU or Virginia lose.
Georgia Tech and Duke, like Miami, need a slew of help to qualify for the conference title game, some of which is explained above in breaking down the Hurricanes’ path.
This story was originally published November 22, 2025 at 11:01 PM.
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