ACC tiebreaker scenarios for Georgia Tech, Virginia, Miami and every contender

Eventually, we'll get to the ACC Championship Game, but who knows how many twists, turns and tiebreakers still stand between us and Charlotte at this point. We've seen absolute madness in the conference. The Miami Hurricanes were the favorites, but have fallen twice in ACC play. Georgia Tech and Virginia had the inside track, but both have stumbled as well. And somehow, there are even more teams like the Pitt Panthers and even the Duke Blue Devils that are still alive.

Georgia Tech vs. Pitt in Week 13 will be a massively consequential matchup in the race to the ACC Championship Game, no doubt, but every result matters at the top of the conference standings right now. One loss could end the hopes of getting to Charlotte, while also giving another team a shot to make it in. So with just two weeks of the regular season remaining, we have to get into the ACC tiebreaker scenarios to see which teams are still alive to play in the ACC title game, and what they need to make it to play for a conference championship.

Current ACC football standings

Louisville, once a leading contender to play for the ACC Championship, has since been eliminated from contention as the Cardinals have found themselves riding the struggle bus recently. But while Georgia Tech and Virginia are still the most likely teams to make the conference championship game, both still have tough matchups remaining in order to punch their tickets. That's why teams such as SMU, Duke, and even Miami are still clinging to slim chances of getting into the ACC title bout at this point.

Of course, it's most shocking to see that both Clemson and Florida State, who appeared to be the ACC's best candidates to make the College Football Playoff, are nowhere near this picture and not among the teams we need to talk about the tiebreakers for. There are still six teams alive to make the ACC Championship Game, however, and here's what they need in order to punch a ticket to Charlotte.

ACC tiebreaker scenarios for the 6 remaining contenders

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Remaining Schedule: vs. Pitt | vs. Georgia

No team has an easier or, rather, simpler path than Georgia Tech as they have just one ACC game remaining in the regular season. With a win over Pitt in Week 13, the Yellow Jackets would be headed to the ACC Championship Game.

Having said that, Georgia Tech could still lose to Pitt and earn a rematch with the Panthers in Charlotte depending on the results thereafter. If Virginia were to lose to Virginia Tech in the final week of the regular season and SMU loses one of its two remaining games, the Yellow Jackets would have a common opponent tiebreaker over both the Cavaliers and Mustangs thanks to their earlier win over Wake Forest, which would still send them to Charlotte.

Virginia Cavaliers

Remaining Schedule: vs. Virginia Tech

Virginia's path to the ACC Championship Game could be quite simple, but they could also punch their ticket regardless of what happens in the regular-season finale in the rivalry matchup with the Hokies. The easiest path would be to simply win that game, which would leave the Cavaliers' destiny in their own hands.

However, Virginia might already be locked into a spot in the ACC title game before kickoff then. If Pitt loses to Georgia Tech or Miami (so either of their remaining games) or if SMU loses one of their final two games against Louisville and Cal, that would give UVA the tiebreaker over both of those teams, even if they were to each have two conference losses, and push the Hoos to the conference championship game.

Pittsburgh Panthers

Remaining Schedule: at Georgia Tech | vs. Miami

To some degree, Pitt is in control of its own destiny, but it does need a bit of help to get into the ACC title game. For starters, though, the Panthers need to take care of their own business, which is no small task, as that means they'll need to beat both Georgia Tech and Miami in the final two weeks of the regular season in order to stay alive in the conference race. That's probably why Pat Narduzzi was so open about essentially not fully committing to the non-conference tilt with Notre Dame in Week 12.

But again, Pitt will still need some help, even if they win out, to get to Charlotte. They'll need one of either SMU or Virginia to lose over the last two weeks of the regular season to get to the ACC Championship Game. However, it all starts with Narduzzi's team itself. One loss for the Panthers, and their hopes of an ACC title will officially go down the drain.

SMU Mustangs

Remaining Schedule: vs. Louisville | at Cal

Considering that Rhett Lashlee and SMU were in the ACC Championship Game a year ago, it's wild how under the radar they've gone to this point of the conference race while still having a legitimate shot of returning to Charlotte. And now in the final two weeks, the Mustangs really only need to focus on themselves and a specific set of results for Pitt in order to have their ticket punched.

First and most importantly, SMU needs to win out against Louisville and Cal in order to keep their hopes alive for the ACC title game. If they do that, then they need Pitt to first knock off Georgia Tech, which would vault the Mustangs ahead of the Yellow Jackets in the standings. But they would also then need Pitt to lose in the regular-season finale against Miami to then vault ahead of the Panthers and play for the ACC hardware for the second straight year.

Miami Hurricanes

Remaining Schedule: at Virginia Tech | at Pitt

While Miami is the highest-ranked team in the ACC by the College Football Playoff selection committee, their path to actually winning the conference is one of the most complicated and convoluted. Naturally, it starts with the fact that the Hurricanes simply can't lose either of their two remaining games, which is no small task as they'll be on the road in Blacksburg and Pittsburgh to finish the year.

If the Canes can take care of that business, though, there will be a lot of help needed in order to thread the needle into the ACC Championship Game. Before they beat Pitt themselves, Miami would also need the Panthers to upset Georgia Tech in Week 13. That's not all, though, as The U also needs North Carolina to take out Duke in a rivalry matchup in Week 13, and for Louisville to take down SMU as well.

That's asking a lot, but it does mean that the path to Charlotte is still visible for Miami, even if it's a tightrope to navigate.

Duke Blue Devils

Remaining Schedule: at North Carolina | vs. Wake Forest

The flip side of the Miami path to the ACC title game is what Duke has ahead of itself. Obviously, the Blue Devils could effectively eliminate the Hurricanes by beating rival UNC in Week 13, and the other part of what's in Duke's control would be ensuring that they also beat Wake Forest in the last week of the regular season.

However, Duke would still need Miami's help after they could potentially knock them out of the ACC race, in addition to a couple of other teams. The Blue Devils are another team that would need Pitt to beat Georgia Tech, but they would also need Miami to then turn around and beat the Panthers. And just like Miami needs, Duke also needs Louisville to knock SMU out of the equation as well in order to have a chance and really upset the apple cart in the conference.