ACC football tiebreaker rules for 2024 conference championships, explained

The ACC got a bit bigger this year thanks to chaotic conference realignment nationwide, adding Cal, Stanford and SMU to the mix for a total of 17 teams.

With the additions, the conference eliminated the Atlantic and Coastal divisions, so along with the number of teams and not being able to play all the squads in the conference, are tied in the ACC standings at the end of the regular season. And that could complicate how the two teams in the conference title game are determined.

While conference titles alone are important, there are also implications for the College Football Playoff because the four highest-ranked conference champions receive the top seed and first-round byes.

Here’s a look at the ACC football tiebreaker rules in 2024, should we need them.

ACC football championship game tiebreaker rules in 2024

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The 2024 ACC Football Championship Game is set for Saturday, December 7 at 8:00 PM ET at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, and the top-2 teams will face off. But without the Atlantic and Coastal divisions, how will the conference decide which teams play for a title if there is a tie?

If two teams are tied in the ACC standings at the end of the regular season, the conference will consider these factors to break it, by ACC tiebreaker rules:

1. Mutual competition between the two equal teams

2. Winning percentage versus all common opponents

3. Winning percentage versus common opponents based on their order of finish (overall conference winning percentage, with tie broken) and continuing through other common opponents based on their order of finish

4. Combined winning percentage of conference opponents

5. The tied team with the highest ranking by the Team Rating Score metric provided by SportSource Analytics after the conclusion of regular season games

6. The representative is chosen by lottery, which is administered by the commissioner or the commissioner’s designee

In a two-way tie for first, the team with the highest winning percentage (outright or via tiebreaker rules) will be the top seed.

If there is at least a multi-team tie in the ACC at the end of the regular season, the conference will consider these factors to determine the individual tiebreaker winner. After the first team is selected from the multi-way tiebreak, the tiebreaker process resets:

1. Combined head-to-head winning percentage among tied teams if all tied teams are common opponents

2. If all tied teams are not common opponents, the tied team that defeated each of the other tied teams. If all of the tied teams are not common opponents, no tied team defeats each of the other tied teams, but one tied team lost to each of the other tied teams, such team shall be eliminated and removed from the tie.

3. Win percentage versus all common opponents

4. Winning percentage versus regular opponents based on their order of finish (overall conference winning percentage, with tie broken) and continuing through other regular opponents based on their order of finish

5. Combined winning percentage of conference opponents

6. The tied team with the highest ranking by the Team Rating Score metric provided by SportSource Analytics after the conclusion of regular season games

7. The representative is chosen by lottery, administered by the commissioner or the commissioner’s designee