Duke’s Stunning Title Berth Could Cost the ACC College Football Playoff Spot

The nuclear situation has happened for the ACC; the 7-5 Duke Blue Devils have made it into the conference title game. If Duke beats Virginia in the ACC Championship, the entire conference would almost certainly miss the playoffs, costing them millions of dollars in advertising revenue that could be distributed throughout the conference.

The ACC really only has themselves to blame for this even being a possibility. They expanded their conference to compete with the Big Ten and SEC, and they watered down the entire conference. Even with the poor additions to the conference, they should still have one team in the playoffs.

Of course, Virginia can win on Saturday night, and that would end the scare, as they would easily be in the playoffs and above the group of five teams; however, if they lose, Miami should be one of the final teams in the dance.

Let’s state the obvious. Notre Dame and Miami played head-to-head, and Miami won. A lot has happened since that week one matchup, and Notre Dame has been playing like one of the best teams in the country, while Miami has struggled. That doesn’t mean the early games shouldn’t matter. If Miami is left out of a twelve-team playoff, then there was no reason to expand the playoffs in the first place.

Notre Dame isn’t the only team that shouldn’t be ahead of Miami. Alabama has a similar opponent as Miami in Florida State, and Miami came out of that game with a win, whereas Alabama was blown out. It’s been the same trend we’ve seen all season. Losses are quality losses if you play in the SEC, and losses are season-ending if you play in the ACC.

Georgia is the best team in the SEC this season, and they were just taken to the wire by a Georgia Tech squad that finished 5th in the ACC. I do think the SEC is better than the ACC overall; however, I don’t think the gap between the two conferences is all that significant.

If you feel comfortable adding four to six SEC teams to the playoffs, then you should be okay with one ACC team in the playoffs. This mess is also going to make life rough for non-power-conference teams, as I’m sure there will be a new rule change to prevent the committee from adding two of those teams to the playoffs in the future. It’s a shame we don’t have any decent teams outside the Power Four because I think whoever makes the playoffs this year is in for a brutal first-round blowout.

The SEC bias is at an all-time high, as they try to make the case for Alabama, Vanderbilt, and Texas. Those teams had a chance to win their conference and earn a playoff bid. Leaving out Miami because the committee doesn’t respect the ACC ruins the point of having a playoff. I hope the committee makes the right decision after conference championship week.