ACC standings explained: Updated 2024 tiebreakers for SMU, Miami, Clemson and more

Who will play for the ACC Championship on Dec. 7?

The road to the conference championship game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte features five teams in serious contention with three weeks left in the regular season.

SMU, which entered the conference this year, controls its own destiny 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 are in the standings, their respective paths to the ACC championship and the tie-breaker rules if two teams — or three or more teams — are tied in the conference standings at the end of the regular season:

ACC football standings 2024

The ACC has five teams with two losses or less in conference play with three weeks left in the regular season. Here’s a look at those teams:

SCHOOL	acc	TOTAL	PF	ON
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 is ACC tiebreaker procedures to follow to determine who makes the conference championship, according to the conference’s official website

Two-team tie

1. Mutual competition between teams

2. Winning percentage vs. common opponents.

3. Win percentage vs. common opponents based on finish (overall conference winning percentage, with tie broken)

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, 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. After that, the tiebreaker for the remaining tied teams restarts

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 tied teams are not common opponents, no tied team defeated 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, which is administered by the commissioner or the commissioner’s designee.

ACC challenger road to championship game

SMU (9-1, 6-0 ACC)

Remaining schedule: in Virginia, vs. Cal

The Mustangs’ 38-28 win over Boston College on Saturday eliminated the eight ACC teams with three losses in conference play. SMU also has head-to-head wins against Pitt and Louisville. The Mustangs have the cleanest look at 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 by Pitt on the road Saturday, winning 24-20. It capped a 7-1 ACC season for Clemson. The Tigers didn’t play SMU or Miami, and they have a head-to-head loss against Louisville. Clemson can’t afford a three-way tie for first at 7-1 or a two-way tie for second if SMU goes undefeated.

Miami (9-1, 5-1 ACC)

Remaining schedule: vs. Wake Forest, at Syracuse

Miami has a head-to-head win against Louisville and does not play Clemson or SMU. If the Hurricanes and Tigers both finish 7-1 in ACC play, the tie-breaker 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 still has to play Wake Forest.

Most likely ACC championship 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.

Then, these three teams’ common opponents 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 either 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 faces Miami, which wins its last two conference games. That’s our best bet for the ACC Championship on Dec. 7.

Here’s a look at the ACC opponents among SMU, Miami and Clemson to track common opponents in the next three weeks

TEAM	SMU	MIAMI	CLEMSON
Boston College	W 38-28	–	–
Cal	Nov 23	W 39-38	–
Duke	W 28-27 OT	W 53-31	–
State of Florida	W 42-16	W 36-14	W 29-13
Georgia Tech	–	L 28-23	–
Louisville	W 34-27	W 52-45	L 32-31
NC state	–	–	W 59-35
Pitt	W 48-25	–	W 24-20
Stanford	W 40-10	–	W 40-14
Syracuse	–	Nov 30	–
Virginia	Nov 23	–	W 48-31
Virginia Tech	–	W 38-34	W 24-14
Wake Forest	–	Nov 23	W 49-14