Clemson football’s ACC championship game rooting guide

On November 24, 2024By Littum

Clemson football’s ACC championship hopes suffered a setback when it was upset by Louisville at home on Nov. 2.

But the 16th-ranked Tigers’ chances of playing for a conference title in Charlotte are not yet extinguished.

Clemson (8-2, 7-1 in ACC play), SMU (9-1, 6-0) and Miami (9-1, 5-1) are the only teams still in contention for an ACC- championship berth, with the Mustangs in the driver’s seat with an undefeated conference record. In fact, SMU can clinch a spot in the conference title game with a win over Virginia on Saturday.

However, the Tigers will need help to get there. They need Miami to lose one game — or hope SMU loses both of its final two games of the regular season. Clemson has no control over its ACC championship hopes, with two non-conference games against The Citadel and South Carolina still on its schedule.

The Tigers have already wrapped up their ACC schedule, finishing with a 7-1 conference record.

Winning the ACC championship could also be crucial to Clemson’s College Football Playoff re-entry as the Tigers entered 17th in the latest CFP rankings. With two losses already and no top-tier strength of schedule similar to the SEC teams vying for at-large bids, a win in Charlotte is likely the only surefire way to make the playoffs.

Here’s what Clemson needs to happen to play for the ACC Championship in 2024:

Clemson football’s ACC championship guide

Clemson no longer controls its own destiny in the ACC championship race and needs either SMU to lose both of its final two regular-season games to Virginia and Cal, or Miami to lose one of its final regular-season games to Wake Forest or Syracuse.

Clemson can clinch a berth in Week 13 with a Miami loss to Wake Forest. SMU can clinch a berth with a win over Virginia or a win over Cal in Week 14.

If SMU loses a game and Miami wins, Clemson will be tied with SMU and Miami with 7-1 conference records, with the tiebreaker going to SMU and Miami based on records vs. common opponents. Clemson drops the tiebreaker due to its loss to Louisville, which was beaten by both SMU and Miami.

None of Clemson, SMU and Miami played each other this season, meaning the combined head-to-head tiebreaker, the first step in the tiebreaker rules, would not take effect.

ACC tiebreaker rules 2024

Here’s a look at the ACC’s tiebreaker rules for the 2024 ACC Championship Game:

A. A tie between two teams
- 1. Mutual competition between the two equal teams
- 2. Winning percentage vs. all common opponents
- 3. Win percentage vs. 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
- 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
B. Three-Team Tie: The three-team tiebreaker will first be used to determine the first team in the ACC Championship. The tiebreakers will then restart for the other two teams not selected.
- 1. Combined head-to-head winning percentage among tied teams if all tied teams are common opponents
- 2. If all the tied teams are not common opponents, the tied team that defeated each of the other tied teams
  - I. If all 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. Winning percentage vs. all common opponents
- 4. Win percentage vs. regular opponents based on their order of finish (overall conference winning percentage, with ties broken) and continues 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

ACC football standings after week 12

Conference notes in parentheses.

Here are the current ones ACC football standings after week 12:

1. SMU (6-0)
2. Clemson (7-1)
3. Miami (5-1)
T-4. Syracuse (4-3)
T-4. Louisville (4-3)
T-4. Georgia Tech (4-3)
T-7. Pitt (3-3)
T-7. Duke (3-3)
T-7. North Carolina (3-3)
T-7. Virginia (3-3)
T-7. Virginia Tech (3-3)
T-12. Boston College (2-4)
T-12. NC State (2-4)
T-12. Wake Forest (2-4)
15. Stanford (2-5)
16. Cal (1-5)
17. Florida State (1-7)