Who will make the ACC Championship Game on December 7?
Heading to the conference championship game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, five teams are in serious contention with three weeks left in the regular season.
SMU, which participated in this year’s conference, controls its own fate in the race. Clemson and Miami each have one loss in conference play, and Louisville and Pitt are hanging on with two conference losses each.
Here’s a look at where these contenders sit in the standings, their respective paths to the ACC Championship, and the tiebreaker rules if two teams – or three or more teams – are tied in the standings at the end of the regular season conference standings:
2024 ACC Football Rankings
The ACC has five teams with two losses or fewer in conference play with three weeks left in the regular season. Here’s a look at those teams:
| SCHOOL | ACC | GENERAL | P.F | PA |
| SMU | 6-0 | 9-1 | 399 | 224 |
| Clemson | 7-1 | 8-2 | 363 | 228 |
| Miami | 5-1 | 9-1 | 450 | 231 |
ACC tiebreaker rules
Here are the ACC tiebreaker procedures to follow to determine who makes it to the conference championship game, according to the conference’s official website
Draw between two teams
1. Head-to-head competition between teams
2. Win percentage versus regular opponents.
3. Winning percentage vs. regular opponents by finish (overall conference winning percentage, with broken ties)
4. Combined winning percentage of conference opponents
5. The team with the highest score according to SportSource Analytics’ team rating score after the conclusion of regular season games.
6. The representative shall be selected by drawing lots as administered by the Commissioner or the Commissioner’s designee.
Three teams or more
The three-team tiebreaker procedure will first be used to determine one participant in the championship match. Then the tiebreak starts again for the remaining teams with a draw
1. Combined head-to-head winning percentage among teams with an equal result if all teams with an equal result are common opponents.
2. If all teams with an equal result are not common opponents, the team that defeated each of the other teams with an equal result. If all teams with an equal result are not common opponents, and no team with an equal result has defeated each of the other teams with an equal result, but a team with an equal result has lost to each of the other teams with an equal result result, this team will be eliminated and removed from the tie.
3. Win percentage against all regular opponents.
4. Winning percentage over regular opponents based on their order of finish (overall conference winning percentage, with broken ties) and moving through other regular opponents based on their order of finish.
5. Combined winning percentage of conference opponents.
6. The team with the highest score according to the SportSource Analytics team rating score after the conclusion of regular season games.
7. The representative shall be selected by drawing lots as administered by the Commissioner or the Commissioner’s designee.
ACC contenders heading to the championship game
SMU (9-1, 6-0 ACC)
Remaining schedule: in Virginia, versus Cal
The Mustangs 38-28 win over Boston College eliminated the eight ACC teams with three losses in conference play on Saturday. SMU also has head-to-head wins against Pitt and Louisville. The Mustangs have the cleanest view of the ACC championship game and control their own destiny with two more wins.
Clemson (8-2, 7-1 ACC)
Remaining schedule: vs. the Citadel, vs. South Carolina
The Tigers needed a late touchdown run from Cade Klubnik to survive an upset bid from Pitt on Saturday and won 24-20. That capped a 7-1 ACC season for Clemson. The Tigers didn’t play SMU or Miami, and they have a head-to-head loss to Louisville. Clemson can’t afford a three-way tie for first place at 7-1 or a two-way tie for second place if SMU remains undefeated.
Miami (9-1, 5-1 ACC)
Remaining schedule: vs. Wake Forest, at Syracuse
Miami has a head-to-head win against Louisville and will not play Clemson or SMU. If the Hurricanes and Tigers both finish 7-1 in ACC play, the tiebreaker would come down to winning percentage against regular opponents. In this case, the common opponents are Virginia Tech, Louisville, Florida State and Wake Forest. Clemson is 3-1 against those teams. Miami is 3-0 and has yet to play Wake Forest.
Most likely ACC championship game scenario
SMU should be able to go at least 7-1 in conference play knowing one of those games is at home. Let’s say the Mustangs lose a conference game, and SMU, Clemson and Miami all finish 7-1 in conference play.
The common opponents of these three teams are Florida State and Louisville. SMU and Miami went 2-0 against those teams. Clemson finished 1-1. SMU and Miami would also have better records against common opponents than the Tigers.
Basically, Clemson needs the Mustangs to lose two conference games or Miami to lose another conference game to have a chance.
However, our guess is that SMU wins in ACC play and takes on Miami, which wins its last two conference games. That’s our best guess for the ACC Championship Game on December 7.
Here’s a look at the ACC opponents among SMU, Miami and Clemson to track common opponents over the next three weeks
| TEAM | SMU | MIAMI | CLEMSON |
| Boston College | W38-28 | – | – |
| Cal | November 23 | W39-38 | – |
| Duke | W 28-27 OT | W 53-31 | – |
| State of Florida | W 42-16 | W36-14 | W29-13 |
| Georgia Tech | – | L28-23 | – |
| Louisville | W34-27 | W 52-45 | L32-31 |
| NC State | – | – | W 59-35 |
| Pitt | W 48-25 | – | W24-20 |
| Stanford | W 40-10 | – | W 40-14 |
| Syracuse | – | November 30 | – |
| Virginia | November 23 | – | W 48-31 |
| Virginia technology | – | W38-34 | W24-14 |
| Wake up forest | – | November 23 | W 49-14 |
