Thanks to Louisville’s loss to Pittsburgh this past Saturday, the door opened for Clemson to possibly play in the ACC Championship Game in December, albeit a very tiny crack.

But hey! I am optimist, and any kind of opening is an opening. You might call me a sunshine pumper or a homer, that’s fine. Call me what you want, I don’t care.

The fact of the matter is, Clemson technically still has a shot at making the ACC Championship Game. The Tigers have not been officially eliminated from contention, though we all kind of wrote the Tigers off after their heartbreaking loss to Florida State on Sept. 23.

Technically, the Tigers are seventh in the ACC Standings heading into this weekend’s games, but let’s be honest, there are truly just three teams they have to be concerned about.

Right now, the Seminoles lead the conference with a 4-0 mark, followed by North Carolina (3-0), Duke (2-0), Louisville (3-1), Georgia Tech (2-1) and Virginia Tech (2-1).

The Hokies and Yellow Jackets are not Clemson’s concern. Virginia Tech will lose a few more league games before the season is done, while the Tigers can dispose of Georgia Tech themselves on Nov. 11 when the Yellow Jackets visit Memorial Stadium.

I think it safe to assume FSU will be one of the two teams to make it to Charlotte on Dec. 2. The Seminoles could lose one game, but it is hard to imagine them losing twice.

How can Clemson earn that final spot?

A lot has to happen.

First, the Tigers have to win out.

Clemson’s remaining conference schedule: at Miami (Oct. 21); at NC State (Oct. 28); vs. Georgia Tech (Nov. 11); vs. North Carolina (Nov. 18).

Lose another conference game, and it’s over. It’s unlikely to think Duke, North Carolina and Louisville are going to lose three or more games. I can almost bet they will not.

Why is it important that Clemson wins out?

If the Tigers win their four remaining conference games, that means they hand North Carolina one of the two losses they need from the Tar Heels and finish the ACC season 6-2.

They need UNC to lose to someone else, too.

North Carolina’s remaining conference schedule: vs. Virginia (Oct. 21); at Georgia Tech (Oct. 28); vs. Duke (Nov. 11); at Clemson (Nov. 18); at NC State (Nov. 25).

If the Tar Heels lose to Clemson, then it means the Tigers need them to lose to one other team for Clemson to own the head-to-hard tiebreaker. Best chances to lose are vs. Duke, at Clemson and at NC State.

They need Duke to lose three times:

Duke’s remaining conference schedule: at Florida State (Oct. 21); at Louisville (Oct. 28); vs. Wake Forest (Nov. 2); at North Carolina (Nov. 11); at Virginia (Nov. 18); vs. Pitt (Nov. 25).

The Tigers need Duke to lose three times. Thanks to their season-opening win over Clemson, the Blue Devils own the head-to-head tiebreaker. Duke’s best chances to lose are at FSU, at Louisville and at North Carolina.

They need Louisville to lose once:

Remaining conference schedule: vs. Duke (Oct. 28); vs. Virginia Tech (Nov. 4); vs. Virginia (Nov. 9); at Miami (Nov. 18).

Right now, Clemson needs Louisville to lose just once to tie them in the ACC standings. If Louisville and Clemson both finish 6-2 in the conference, they likely will have the same record (3-1) vs. common opponents.

Louisville’s best chances to lose are vs. Duke and at Miami.

ACC Football Tiebreakers

These are the official tiebreakers for the ACC to determine which two teams will represent the conference in the championship game on Dec. 2.

The ACC will use the highest winning percentage, after any tiebreaker, to decide who the No. 1 seed is for the Championship game.

If there is a two-team tie for a spot in the ACC Championship game, there are six different tie-breakers available to break the deadlock.

• Head-to-head competition between the two tied teams.
• Win-percentage versus all common opponents.
• Win-percentage versus common opponents based upon their order of finish (overall conference win-percentage, with ties broken) and proceeding through other common opponents based upon their order of finish.
• Combined win-percentage of conference opponents.
• The tied team with the higher ranking by the Team Rating Score metric provided by SportSource Analytics following the conclusion of regular season games.
• The representative shall be chosen by a draw as administered by the Commissioner of Commissioner’s designee.

If there is a three or more team-tie for a spot in the ACC Championship game, there are seven tiebreakers to decide the teams. The ACC will use these tiebreakers to first pick a representative for the Championship game and then once they determine a team, they will use the tiebreakers again for the remaining teams.

• Combined head-to-head win-percentage among the tied teams if all tied teams are common opponents.
• If all the tied teams are not common opponents, the tied team that defeated each of the other tied teams.
• Win-percentage versus all common opponents.
• Win-percentage versus common opponents based upon their order of finish (overall conference win-percentage, with ties broken) and proceeding through other common opponents based upon their order of finish.
• Combined win-percentage of conference opponents.
• The tied team with the highest ranking by the Team Rating Score metric provided by SportSource Analytics following the conclusion of regular season games.
• The representative shall be chosen by a draw as administered by the Commissioner of Commissioner’s designee.

The ACC will apply these tiebreakers from No. 1 through the last one as needed to determine who makes it to the ACC Championship Game and also seeding. The ACC will also count conference games against post-season ineligible teams in the standings and with tiebreakers.

ACC Standings for Week 8 (games through Oct. 21)

This week’s schedule of games

Boston College at Georgia Tech, Noon, ACCN

Pitt at Wake Forest, 3:30 p.m., ACCN

Virginia at No. 10 North Carolina, 6:30 p.m., CW Network

No. 16 Duke at No. 4 Florida State, 7:30 p.m., ABC

Clemson at Miami, 8 p.m., ACCN

We have just added a new special to our store. Get the Two Pack of signed footballs from Clemson’s 2022 and 2023 classes and save $75. Thanks for your support of Clemson football.