CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Atlantic Coast Conference is revamping the tiebreaker format for its football championship game after a controversial finish last season that allowed a five-loss Duke team to get in over Miami, which was ranked 10th at the time — a situation that put the latter at risk of missing the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Miami, which had been the ACC’s most dominant team during the regular season, wound up being selected for the CFP and went on to reach the national title game, where it fell short to top-ranked, undefeated Indiana of the Big Ten, 27-21.
Duke, which was unranked, beat No. 20 Virginia in the league title game last year for its first outright ACC championship since 1962 but was not selected for the CFP, much to the dismay of Blue Devils coach Manny Diaz.
The ACC’s new football championship tiebreaker policy will take effect this season, reflecting the league’s transition to a nine-game conference schedule and ensuring a fair and equitable process for determining participants in the ACC championship game, the league said.
The updated tiebreaking procedure is built on three guiding principles: