CLEMSON — Clemson did its part Saturday to keep its College Football Playoff chances alive.

The No. 16 Tigers (8-2), who sit at No. 20 in the CFP rankings, won their final conference game against Pitt on the road to finish 7-1 in ACC play. They are are second in the ACC, behind SMU (9-1, 6-0 ACC) and ahead of Miami (9-1, 5-1). According to ESPN's FPI, Clemson has a 13.5% chance to win the conference and a 20.8% chance to make the CFP.

In order for Clemson to make the ACC championship, it needs Miami to lose again or SMU to drop its final two games. Winning the conference is especially important this season with the new 12-team format for the CFP as whichever team wins the ACC will receive an automatic bid and a potential first-round bye.

Here are three potential ACC tiebreakers for Clemson entering Week 13:

Scenario 1: SMU wins out, Miami loses one more ACC game

The Hurricanes' final two conference games are against Wake Forest (4-6, 2-4) and Syracuse (7-3, 4-3). If Miami falls to either, Clemson would advance to the ACC championship because the Tigers' conference record would be better.

If Miami wins out, it would advance to the ACC championship despite having the same conference record as Clemson because the tiebreaker would be win percentage versus all common opponents.

Miami and Clemson's common opponents are Wake Forest, Louisville, Florida State and Virginia Tech. Miami would be 4-0 and Clemson would be 3-1 because of its loss to Louisville.

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Scenario 2: Three-way tie for first among Clemson, SMU, Miami

If Clemson, SMU and Miami finish 7-1 in ACC play, the tiebreaker would be determined by win percentage versus all common opponents. Their common opponents are Florida State and Louisville.

Miami and SMU would be 2-0 and Clemson would be 1-1. As a result, Miami and SMU would advance to the ACC championship.

Scenario 3: Miami drops one ACC game, SMU loses remaining games

If Miami loses one of its games and SMU falls to Virginia (5-5, 3-3) and Cal (5-5, 1-5), Clemson would finish atop the ACC to make the ACC championship.

The Tigers would face Miami, who would advance to the ACC championship despite having the same conference record as SMU because the tiebreaker would be win percentage versus all common opponents.

Miami and SMU's common opponents are Cal, Duke, Florida State and Louisville. Miami would be 4-0 and SMU would be 3-1 because of its loss to Cal.

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

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football tiebreakers that can put Tigers in ACC Championship