ACC football's conference championship tiebreaker rules in 2024, explained
The ACC got a bit bigger this year thanks to chaotic conference realignment nationwide and added 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 that coupled with the number of teams and not being able to play every squad in the conference, ties in the ACC standings at the end of the regular season are possible. And that could complicate how the two teams in the conference title game are determined.
While conference titles alone are important, there are also College Football Playoff implications on the line because the four highest-ranked conference champs get top seeds 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 p.m. 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 determine which teams play for a title if there is a tie?
If there is a two-team tie in the ACC standings at the end of the regular season, the conference will consider these factors to break it, per ACC tiebreaker rules:
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
In a two-way tie for first, the team with the highest win 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 figure out the single winner of the tiebreak. After the first team is selected from the multi-way tiebreak, the tiebreaker process resets:
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