No one wants to imagine Notre Dame losing to Clemson, but you have to brace for the possibility. At that point, the Irish would be playing for second place in the ACC and a spot in the title game. The most likely team they would have to battle for that spot is Miami, which has lost only once. These teams don’t play each other this season, and the follow three tiebreaker scenarios are irrelevant in this case, so the Miami Herald has broken down the fifth tiebreaker scenario should it come to that.
That scenario is higher ranking in the Team Rating Score metric from SportSource Analytics. The company is about as likely to publicly reveal that formula as Mr. Krabs is to hand over the one for Krabby Patties to Plankton. So it’s pretty much the Bowl Championship Series all over again, albeit on a much smaller scale. There’s nothing either team would be able to do with the result but accept it, and only one would be going to Charlotte.