College football Power Four conference championship tiebreaker rules, explained

Conference realignment changed everything in college football, and some impacts were predictable while we’re still learning and figuring out others. Tiebreaker rules for conference championship games falls somewhere in the middle.

Some FBS conferences eliminated divisions as they added or lost teams, and now the Sun Belt Conference is the lone one with two divisions. So that means, for example, determining who plays in the SEC championship game no longer boils down to who wins the East or West divisions. Instead, it’s all about the top-2 finishers in the regular-season standings.

And when you have conferences with 18 teams or 16 teams and not everyone can play each other, there’s tremendous potential for multiple teams to finish with the same conference record. As The Athletic noted last month, tiebreakers could become a nightmare.

So who gets to play in their respective conference title games when the four highest-ranked conference champs get a top College Football Playoff seed and first-round bye? What are the tiebreaker rules for the Power Four conferences in 2024?

It’s a lot to keep track of, so we’re here to help.

ACC football championship game tiebreaker rules in 2024

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

Big Ten football championship game tiebreaker rules in 2024

The 2024 Big Ten football championship game is set for Saturday, December 7 at 8 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, and the top-2 teams will face off. But without the East and West divisions (RIP Legends and Leaders), 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 Big Ten standings at the end of the regular season, the conference will use these considerations to break it, per Big Ten tiebreaker rules:

1. Head-to-head game winner

2. Win percentage among common conference opponents

3. The records of the two tied teams will be compared based on record against common opponents with the best conference record and proceeding through the common conference opponents based on their order of finish within the conference standings

4. The records of the two tied teams will be compared based on the best cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents

5. The representative will be chosen by the by the highest ranking by SportSource Analytics (team Rating Score metric) following the regular season

6. Random draw among the tied teams conducted by commissioner or designee

If there’s a two-way tie for first in the Big Ten and the tied teams previously played each other, the winner of that game is the top seed. If the tied teams didn’t previously play each other, the two-way tiebreaker rules apply.

If there is at least a multi-team tie in the Big Ten at the end of the regular season, the conference will consider these factors to figure out the single winner of the tiebreak. But if it’s a tie after the single tiebreak winner is selected, the Big Ten will use these factors to break it. And if the tie is reduced to two teams, the two-team tiebreaker rules apply.

1. The records of the three (or more) tied teams will be compared based on winning percentage in games among the tied teams:

1A. If all teams involved in the tie did not play each other, but one team defeated all other teams involved in the tie, the team that defeated all other teams in the tie is removed from the tiebreaker, and the remaining teams revert to the beginning of the applicable tiebreaker process (i.e., two team or three or more team tie)

1B. If all teams involved in the tie did not play each other and no team defeated all other teams involved in the tie, move to the next step in tiebreaker

2. The records of the three (or more) tied teams will be compared based on winning percentage against all common conference opponents played by all other teams involved in the tie

3. The records of the three (or more) tied teams will be compared based on winning percentage against the next highest placed common opponent in the standings in order of finish

4. The records of the three (or more) tied teams will be compared based on the best cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents:

4A. In the event of an unbalanced schedule (i.e., less than nine conference games are played), the records of the three (or more) tied teams will be compared based on the best cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents, regardless of how many conference opponents each team played. If winning percentage is equal for all conference opponents, move to next step in tiebreaker

5. The representative will be chosen by the by the highest ranking by SportSource Analytics (team Rating Score metric) following the regular season

6. Random draw among the tied teams conducted by commissioner or designee

Big 12 football championship game tiebreaker rules in 2024

The 2024 Big 12 football championship game is set for Saturday, December 7 at noon ET at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and the conference’s top-2 teams will play. But if there’s a tie, how will the Big 12 break it to determine which teams will play for a conference title?

If there is a two-team tie in the Big 12 standings at the end of the regular season, the conference will look at these factors to break it, per Big 12 tiebreaker rules:

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

2. Win percentage against all common conference opponents among the tied teams

3. Win percentage against the next highest placed common opponent in the standings (based on the record in all games played within the Conference), proceeding through the standings. When arriving at another group of tied teams while comparing records, use each team’s win percentage against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to that group’s own tie-breaking procedure) rather than the performance against individual tied teams

4. Combined win percentage in conference games of conference opponents (i.e., the strength of conference schedule)

5. Total number of wins in a 12-game season. The following conditions will apply to the calculation of the total number of wins: Only one win against a team from the NCAA FCS or lower division will be counted annually. Any games that are exempted from counting against the annual maximum number of football contests per NCAA rules

6. Highest ranking by SportSource Analytics (team Rating Score metric) following the last weekend of regular-season games

7. Coin toss

If there’s a two-way tie for first and the tied teams previously played each other, the winner of that game is the top seed. If the tied teams didn’t previously play each other, the two-way tiebreaker rules apply.

If there is a multi-team tie in the Big 12 at the end of the regular season, the conference will consider the following factors to figure out the single winner of the tiebreak. But if there is still a multi-way tie after the first team is selected from the tiebreak, the Big 12 will use these factors to break the tie, and when two teams are left tied, the two-team tiebreaker rules apply.

1. The records of the three (or more) tied teams will be compared based on winning percentage in games among the tied teams:

1A. If all teams involved in the tie did not play each other, but one team defeated all other teams involved in the tie, the team that defeated all other teams in the tie is removed from the tiebreaker, and the remaining teams revert to the beginning of the applicable tiebreaker process (i.e., two team or three or more team tie)

1B. If all teams involved in the tie did not play each other and no team defeated all other teams involved in the tie, move to the next step in tiebreaker

2. The records of the three (or more) tied teams will be compared based on winning percentage against all common conference opponents played by all other teams involved in the tie

3. Record of the three (or more) tied teams against the next highest placed common opponent in the standings (based on the record in all games played within the conference), proceeding through the standings. When arriving at another group of tied teams while comparing records, use each team’s win percentage against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to that group’s own tie-breaking procedure) rather than the performance against individual tied teams

4. Record of the three (or more) tied teams based on combined win percentage in conference games of conference opponents (i.e., strength of conference schedule)

5. Total number of wins in a 12-game season. The following conditions will apply to the calculation of the total number of wins: Only one win against a team from the NCAA FCS or lower division will be counted annually. Any games that are exempted from counting against the annual maximum number of football contests per NCAA rules

6. Highest ranking by SportSource Analytics (team Rating Score metric) following the last weekend of regular-season games

7. Coin toss

SEC football championship game tiebreaker rules in 2024

The 2024 SEC football championship game is set for Saturday, December 7 at 4 p.m. ET at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, and the conference’s top two teams will face off. But without the East and West 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 SEC standings at the end of the regular season, the conference will consider these factors to break it, per SEC tiebreaker rules:

1. Head-to-head competition among the tied teams

2. Record versus all common conference opponents among tied teams

3. Record against highest (best) placed common conference opponent in the conference standings, and proceeding through the conference standings among the tied teams

4. Cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents among the tied teams

5. Higher relative total scoring margin per SportSource Analytics versus all conference opponents among tied teams

6. Random draw of the tied teams

If two teams are tied for first in the SEC standings, they’ll play in the title game, and the tiebreaker steps above will decide seeding.

If there is a multi-team tie in the SEC standings at the end of the regular season, the conference will look at these considerations to identify the first team in the title game. After the first team is identified, the process reverts back to the two-team tiebreaker rules.

1. Head-to-head competition among tied teams

2. Record versus all common conference opponents among tied teams

3. Record against highest (best) placed common conference opponent, proceeding through the conference standings among tied teams

4. Cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents among the tied teams

5. Higher relative total scoring margin per SportSource Analytics versus all conference opponents among the tied teams

6. Random draw of the tied teams