It’s the final weekend for college football teams to make their case for conference championship games, a critical component of the criteria that will ultimately determine who makes the College Football Playoff.
When the Boston College Eagles (1-10) and Syracuse Orange (3-8) battle for Northeastern college football supremacy on Saturday, they might have an outsized impact on the teams that qualify for the ACC Championship Game.
Let us explain.
Who plays in the ACCCG and who wins it is going to be absolutely critical when it comes to which ACC school qualifies for the CFP, if any of them do at all. There are currently six teams in contention to advance to the ACCCG: Duke (6-5), Georgia Tech (9-2), Miami (9-2), Pitt (8-3), SMU (8-3), and Virginia (9-2). Miami is currently the conference’s highest-ranked team, but it has a very low chance of making the title game right now. For the other five schools, winning the ACC championship will be essential if they want an opportunity to play in the CFP.
An ACC Championship berth and a spot in the College Football Playoff could be decided by the result of 1-10 Boston College vs. 3-8 Syracuse this week.
The ACC Championship could be really simple: SMU is in with a win, Virginia is in with a win. But either team loses, the result… pic.twitter.com/abNbewZP8U
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) November 26, 2025
The easiest way this all plays out is if SMU and Virginia win this weekend. If they both take care of business, the discussion is moot, and they’ll both advance to the championship game.
However, if one or both lose, it opens up a wealth of opportunities for other schools, with a bevy of tiebreakers to consider. You can find the complete list of potential considerations here. Among them is the possibility that Miami, Georgia Tech, or SMU could reach the ACC title game depending on the outcome of the BC-Cuse contest.
Georgia Tech clinches a spot in the championship game with:
- PITT win + UVA loss + SMU loss OR
- MIA win + SMU loss + Duke loss + UVA loss + NCSU win OR
- MIA Win + SMU loss + DUKE loss + UVA loss + UNC win + BC win + Finish higher than MIA & SMU in SportSource Analytics ranking OR
- MIA Win + SMU loss + DUKE loss + UVA win + NCSU win + BC win + Finish higher than MIA & SMU in SportSource Analytics ranking
SMU clinches a spot in the championship game with:
- Win OR
- PITT loss + DUKE loss + UVA win + UNC win OR
- PITT loss + DUKE loss + UVA win + NCSU win + BC win + Finish higher than GT & MIA in SportSource Analytics ranking OR
- PITT loss + DUKE loss + UVA loss + UNC win + BC win + Finish higher than GT & MIA in SportSource Analytics ranking
Miami clinches a spot in the championship game with:
- Win + UVA loss + DUKE loss + SMU win OR
- Win + SMU loss + DUKE loss + UVA loss + NCSU win OR
- Win + SMU loss + DUKE loss + UVA loss + UNC win + SYR win OR
- Win + SMU loss + DUKE loss + UVA loss + UNC win + BC win + Finish higher than GT & SMU in SportSource Analytics ranking OR
- Win + SMU loss + DUKE loss + UVA win + NCSU win + SYR win OR
- Win + SMU loss + DUKE loss + UVA win + NCSU win + BC win + Finish higher than GT & SMU in SportSource Analytics ranking OR
- Win + SMU loss + DUKE win + UVA loss + NCSU win OR
- Win + SMU win + DUKE win + UVA loss + NCSU win + Finish higher than DUKE in SportSource Analytics ranking
Got all that? The odds are pretty low that the ACC Championship Game participants will come down to the arm of Syracuse true freshman Rich Belin in his first college start, but they’re not zero.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.