Clemson CFP hopes alive, makes ACC title game vs SMU after Miami loss

On December 1, 2024By Littum

CLEMSON — Clemson football is headed to the ACC Championship game after Miami’s 42-38 upset road loss to Syracuse on Saturday and will reach the College Football Playoff if the Tigers beat SMU.

The No. 12 Tigers (9-3, 7-1 ACC) will face No. 9 SMU in Charlotte on December 7 at 20 at Bank of America Stadium. They had a path to the playoffs after their 17-14 loss to rival No. 14 South Carolina on Saturday at Memorial Stadium, and they needed unranked Syracuse (9-3, 5-3) to upset No. 7 Hurricanes (10-2, 6-2).

According to ESPN’s FPI, Clemson had a 9% chance to win the conference entering Saturday. The Tigers overcame those slim odds thanks to Miami’s shocking loss, which gave them a better conference record than the Hurricanes.

SMU (11-1, 8-0) earned a berth to the ACC Championship Game last week. The Tigers will likely have to beat SMU to reach the CFP because their loss to South Carolina ruined their chances for one of the seven at-large bids.

SMU will be the designated “home” team in the conference championship because it finished above Clemson in the standings.

Winning the conference is especially important this season, as the ACC champion will receive an automatic bid and a likely first-round bye in the 12-team College Football Playoff. The four best-placed conference champions receive a bye.

Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00