ACC Will Re-Evaluate CFB Tiebreaker After Conference Champion Misses CFP Bracket

After Duke was left out of the 12-team College Football Playoff despite winning the ACC championship, the conference is hoping to avoid a repeat scenario.

Per The Athletic's David Ubben, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said that the conference will examine the tiebreaker policy that allowed the Blue Devils to make it to the conference championship game.

Duke went 7-5 in the regular season but tied with four other teams for second place in the ACC with a 6-2 conference record. By virtue of the conference's fifth tiebreaker, combined win percentage of conference opponents, the Blue Devils were awarded the spot in the conference championship game against Virginia, and they scored a 27-20 upset win over the Cavaliers, who entered the game with a 10-2 record.

"Who knew that we would get to the seventh tiebreaker with five teams that were 6-2? The stars aligned in a way that nobody predicted," Phillips said while speaking at the SBJ Intercollegiate Athletics Forum. "Nobody should throw shade on Duke. Everybody had a chance to be part of that tiebreaker, and they played great. They won the league. I was super happy for Duke. It worked out the way it's supposed to work."

Rather than giving Duke a spot in the CFP following its ACC title, the selection committee made Miami (10-2) the conference's lone representative in the 12-team bracket.

Per Ubben, Phillips said the ACC "could add an element that includes the College Football Playoff rankings" to its tiebreaker policies. Miami didn't face Duke or Virginia during the 2025 regular season, but was the ACC's highest-ranked team in the CFP Poll.

The Hurricanes will look to represent the ACC well when they face Texas A&M in a first-round matchup on Saturday, Dec. 20.