Who Clemson fans should cheer for to help Tigers win ACC football tiebreakers after Miami loss
CLEMSON — Clemson's College Football Playoff chances increased on Saturday.
The No. 16 Tigers (7-2, 6-1 ACC), who sit at No. 23 in the CFP rankings, are second in the ACC, behind SMU (8-1, 5-0), after their win vs. Virginia Tech and Miami's upset loss to Georgia Tech. According to ESPN's FPI, Clemson has a 9.8% chance to win the conference and a 13.3% chance to make the College Football Playoff.
In order for Clemson to make the ACC championship, it needs to beat Pittsburgh (noon ET, ESPN) on Saturday, then needs Miami (9-1, 5-1) to lose again or SMU to drop two ACC 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 12:
Note: In each scenario, the Tigers beat Pittsburgh on Saturday to finish 7-1 in ACC play.
Scenario 1: SMU wins out, Miami loses one more ACC game
The Hurricanes' final two conference games are against Wake Forest (4-5, 2-3) and Syracuse (6-3, 3-3). 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.
MORE: Here's where Clemson stands in latest college football bowl projections after Week 11
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: Clemson, Miami win out, SMU loses two ACC games
The Mustangs' final three conference games are against Boston College (5-4, 2-3), Virginia (5-4, 3-3) and Cal (5-4, 1-4). If SMU loses only one game, it would advance to the ACC championship, which was outlined in Scenario 2.
If SMU loses two of its last three games, it will miss the ACC title game because Miami and Clemson would have better conference records.
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
