The race for the Atlantic Division is still a three team race after the first weekend in November. There are still path’s for Clemson to make it back to Charlotte but they will certainly need some help along the way to try to extend their dominance of the ACC.
Each week, we will take a look at where things stand in the Atlantic Division as teams battle to make the ACC Championship Game.
Clemson
The Tigers fought back to beat Louisville to keep their hopes alive.
In order to have any chance Clemson will need to defeat Wake Forest and finish 6-2 in the ACC. But they will need things to fall the right way even if they get that victory.
The Tigers would lose a three-team tie with Wake Forest and N.C. State. In such a scenario, Wake Forest would drop out of the running due to win percentage in the division since both of their losses would be in the Atlantic. That would leave Clemson and N.C. State, and the Wolfpack would win because of the head-to-head result. Clemson would also of course lose a two-team tie with the ‘Pack.
The Tigers will need N.C. State to lose two more conference games to win the division. They will also need Wake Forest to lose to either N.C. State or Boston College and the Tigers of course.
ACC Record: 5-2
ACC Losses: N.C. State, Pitt
Remaining ACC Games: Nov. 20 (Wake Forest)
N.C. State
N.C. State defeated Florida State to continue their push to the division title.
The ‘Pack still controls their own destiny. If they win out in the ACC, they will be heading to Charlotte. If the Wolfpack lose to Wake Forest, things get a lot more difficult. They would need to win the remaining ACC games and have some help by Clemson beating Wake Forest.
N.C. State would win the three team tiebreaker with Clemson and Wake Forest.
ACC Record: 4-1
ACC Losses: Miami
Remaining ACC Games: Nov. 13 (at Wake Forest), Nov. 20 (Syracuse), Nov. 26 (UNC)
Wake Forest
The Deacs have the easiest path to winning the division.
Wake Forest suffered their first loss of the season, but the loss to North Carolina not not count in the conference as it was a nonconference game.
If Wake Forest wins out, they are headed to Charlotte. If they beat N.C. State and just lose one conference game, they are headed to the ACC Championship.
ACC Record: 5-0
Remaining ACC Games: Nov. 13 (NC State), Nov. 20 (at Clemson), Nov. 27 (at Boston College)
Tie Breaking Policy
Three-Team (or More) Team Tie
(Once a team is eliminated from the tie, the tie-breaker procedures restart for the remaining teams. If the three (or more) team tie can be reduced to two teams, the two-team tiebreaker format will then be applied.)
1. Combined head-to-head win percentage among the tied teams.
2. Win percentage of the tied teams within the division.
3. Head-to-head competition versus the team within the division with the best overall (divisional and non-divisional) Conference win percentage, and proceeding through the division. Multiple ties within the division will be broken first to last, using the league’s tie-breaker policies.
4. Combined win percentage versus all common non-divisional opponents.
5. Overall win percentage versus non-divisional opponents.
6. Win percentage versus common non-divisional opponents based upon their order of finish (overall win percentage) and proceeding through other common non-divisional opponents based upon their divisional order of finish.
7. The tied team with the higher ranking by the Team Rating Score metric provided by SportSource Analytics following the conclusion of regular season games.
8. The representative shall be chosen by a draw as administered by the Commissioner or the Commissioner’s designee.