ACC implements new tiebreaker policy for football title game

Key Points:

• The ACC announced a new tiebreaker policy to ensure the two best football teams compete in the conference championship, prompted by last season's controversial five-way tie that favored Duke over higher-ranked Miami.
• The league is transitioning to a nine-game conference schedule in 2025, with 12 teams playing nine ACC games and five teams playing eight, and plans to have one team play eight conference games going forward due to having 17 teams.
• The primary tiebreaker remains head-to-head results, but when teams are still tied, the ACC will use the Team Success Ranking from SportSource Analytics to evaluate overall team performance fairly.
• Commissioner Jim Phillips emphasized the importance of positioning the championship game with the top two teams, citing extensive simulations and unanimous member support for the new policy.
• The change aligns with the College Football Playoff's automatic bids for Power 4 champions, making it critical for the ACC to accurately identify its best teams for the title game.