Heading into Saturday’s final regular-season weekend, the route to the ACC Championship Game was quite clear.
Virginia needed a win over rival Virginia Tech.
No problem in Charlottesville, UVA 27-7.
All that was left to secure a Virginia-SMU title game was for the Mustangs to beat Cal.
That’s where things went bad for the ACC.
Cal 38, SMU 35.
And the result?
Duke, which got to 7-5 by beating Wake Forest earlier in the day, vaulted into the ACC Championship Game, securing a five-way tie for second place in the conference with a 6-2 league record.
The ACC is a mess.
Duke vs. Virginia at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte for the ACC Championship.
The Blue Devils haven’t competed for a conference title since 2014, while Virginia last made it to the championship in 2019.
It’s more than $: The ACC needs a Virginia win
A Duke win Saturday over Virginia moves the Blue Devils to 8-5.
Duke definitely wouldn’t be among the five highest-ranked conference champions eligible for a College Football Playoff bid.
And this is where things might get messy for the ACC.
The conference might need an at-large bid to Miami to avoid being completely shut out of postseason play.
ICYMI
The worst-case scenario for the ACC, a conference desperately trying to stay relevant – a snub by the CFP.
If that were to happen, the conference might as well begin planning a going-out-of-business sale.
So, everyone except the few Duke fans needs to be Cavaliers on Saturday evening.
It’s more than just the revenue. It’s about respect and curb appeal.
Don’t think potential recruits don’t or won’t notice that.
Every school in the ACC needs a UVA win on Saturday, which will secure the league a spot at the CFP table.
Then everyone takes a breath of relief.
More regarding the ACC problems
OK, let’s get over a 7-5 Duke team playing for a championship.
The primary issue for the ACC is that Duke coach Manny Diaz, who was dismissed from Miami for failing to lead the Hurricanes to Charlotte, is taking Duke there before Miami’s coach, Mario Cristobal, does.
Duke is a key team in ACC Basketball, but in football, the Blue Devils mostly stand on the sidelines.
ICYMI
Florida State, Miami and Clemson are the league’s main earners, and recently they’ve just been cashing paychecks.
There’s more blame as well.
Virginia Tech, with a passionate fan base eager for success, has been off the national stage for nearly 15 years.
Virginia and North Carolina are two prestigious flagship state universities and, for the most part, have been okay with being regarded as basketball schools.
A tip of the hat to UVA. They parlayed a substantial financial commitment in the off-season into a regular-season title.
You can’t say the same for UNC. The hiring of former NFL coach Bill Belichick has been a three-ring circus in Chapel Hill.
North Carolina is the laughingstock of college football.
Like Major League Baseball, which needs the big-market teams like New York and LA to be good, the ACC needs the same from its marquee teams.
Final Regular-Season ACC Power Rankings
- Virginia (10-2, 7-1 ACC)
- Miami (10-2, 6-2 ACC)
- Duke (7-5, 6-2 ACC)
- Georgia Tech (9-3, 6-2 ACC)
- Clemson (7-5, 4-4 ACC)
- Wake Forest (8-4, 4-4 ACC)
- Pitt (8-4, 6-2 ACC)
- SMU (8-4, 6-2 ACC)
- NC State (7-5, 4-4 ACC)
- Louisville (8-4, 4-4 ACC)
- Cal (7-5, 4-4 ACC)
- Stanford (4-8, 2-6 ACC)
- Virginia Tech (3-9, 2-6 ACC)
- Florida State (5-7, 2-6 ACC)
- North Carolina (4-8, 2-6 ACC)
- Boston College (2-10, 1-7 ACC)
- Syracuse (3-9, 1-7 ACC)
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