ACC finalizes new tiebreaker rules after Miami missed conference title game

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The ACC finalized new tiebreaker rules on Wednesday, July 15, after the conference was nearly left out of the College Football Playoff entirely last season due to Duke reaching the championship game.

The Blue Devils went 7-5 last season before defeating Virginia in the ACC championship game. They were tied with Miami, Pittsburgh, SMU and Georgia Tech at 6-2 in conference play, and earned a spot for the conference crown thanks to a long list of tiebreakers.

The league simulated more than 10,000 seasons in its tiebreaker review to “ensure the model fairly addressed a wide range of championship scenarios.” The ACC is also transitioning to a 9-game conference schedule in 2026, aiming for a more equitable schedule among each team.

REQUIRED READING: ACC football predictions, preseason awards, all-conference teams

The new tiebreaker rules are built on three core principles, according to the conference’s announcement. Among those is the team with the “strongest overall body of work” will earn the spot in ACC title game, along with subsequent best chance at a CFP bid.

Miami, who moved into the CFP field for the first time in weeks when the bracket was revealed, squeaked into the CFP field over Notre Dame despite not playing in the ACC championship. The Hurricanes were the highest-ranked team in the conference by far, but were nearly cost their run to the national championship game due to the conference’s tiebreaker scenarios.

“The updated championship tiebreaker policy was developed to reward head-to-head results, account for the league’s teams playing an alternate number of conference games, while also identifying the two most deserving teams to compete for the ACC Football Championship and the conference’s automatic berth into the College Football Playoff,” the announcement said.

Here’s a look at the conference’s new tiebreaker rules:

New ACC football tiebreaker rules

Defining Tied Teams

  • A. Step 1: Identify the team or teams with the best Conference win percentage;plus,
  • B. Step 2: Any team or teams which played an alternate number of Conferencegames and have either the same number of Conference wins or the samenumber of Conference losses as the team(s) identified in Step 1.
  • C. No other teams may be defined as Tied Teams

Once the Tied Teams have been identified

  • A. In the event of a tie involving teams which played an alternate number ofConference games, all ties will be broken starting with the highest winpercentage, working downward.
  • B. Two-Team Tie
    • i. The tied team which defeated the other tied team in head-to-headConference competition.
    • ii. The tied team with the better ranking in the Team Success Rankingprovided by SportSource Analytics following the conclusion of allregular-season games.
    • iii. The participant shall be chosen by a draw as administered by the Commissioner or Commissioner’s designee.
  • B. Three (or more) Team Tie
    • If all the Tied Teams are common opponents:
      • The Tied Team with the best record among the Tied Teams; if necessary, the tiebreaker will restart, including the definition of tied teams.
      • The Tied Team with the best ranking in the Team Success Ranking provided by SportSource Analytics following the conclusion of regular-season games; if necessary, the tiebreaker will restart, including the definition of tied teams.
      • The participant shall be chosen by a draw as administered by the Commissioner or Commissioner’s designee; if necessary, the tiebreaker will restart, including the definition of tied teams.
    • If all the Tied Teams are not common opponents:
      • The Tied Team which defeated each of the other Tied Teams is placed into the Championship Game and removed from the tie. The tied team which lost to each of the other Tied Teams is removed from the tie; if necessary, the tiebreaker will restart, including the definition of tied teams.
      • The Tied Team with the best ranking in the Team Success Ranking provided by SportSource Analytics following the conclusion of regular-season games is placed into the Championship Game and removed from the tie; if necessary, the tiebreaker will restart, including the definition of tied teams.
      • The participant shall be chosen by a draw as administered by the Commissioner or Commissioner’s designee; if necessary, the tiebreaker will restart, including the definition of tied teams.

Old ACC football tiebreaker rules

Two-team tie

1. Head-to-head competition between the two tied teams

2. Win-percentage versus all common opponents

3. Win-percentage versus common opponents based upon their order of finish (overall conference win-percentage, with ties broken) and proceeding through other common opponents based upon their order of finish

4. Combined win-percentage of conference opponents

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

6. The representative shall be chosen by a draw as administered by the commissioner or commissioner’s designee

Multi-team tie

1. Combined head-to-head win-percentage among the 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. If all the tied teams are not common opponents, no tied team defeated each of the other tied teams, but a 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. Win-percentage versus common opponents based upon their order of finish (overall conference win-percentage, with ties broken) and proceeding through other common opponents based upon their order of finish

5. Combined win-percentage of conference opponents

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

7. The representative shall be chosen by a draw as administered by the commissioner or commissioner’s designee

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ACC finalizes new tiebreaker rules after Miami missed conference title game

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