Exclusive Details on How Phillips, ACC Went to Bat for ACC Playoff Contenders
By: Will Vandervort November 27, 2024

On last Wednesday’s ACC PM show on the ACCN, Jim Phillips was pretty upset with where the ACC was in the College Football Playoff Rankings.

Because of this, as The Clemson Insider learned, the ACC went above and beyond this past week to make sure its three best teams were out in front of the selection committee.

Commissioner Phillips did not like the fact Miami (10-1) was listed No. 8 last week and was leaped by then two-loss Alabama (8-3) who beat up on an FCS foe that week before while the Hurricanes were off. He also was not happy with SMU’s No. 13 ranking, considering the Mustangs have one of the nation’s longest win streaks and have an electrifying quarterback in Kevin Jennings.

But as I like to say, the ball does not lie.

The ball found the ACC last Saturday, as five teams from the SEC and Big 12 lost last weekend, opening the door for Miami, SMU and Clemson to jump into the top 12. There was concern ESPN’s SEC spin might prevent Clemson from moving up in the rankings.

“Clemson is a top 15 team. They are one of just ten or eleven FBS teams that are undefeated on the road, among other things,” Philips said last week.

A week after having one team in the CFP top 12, the ACC now has three. The Hurricanes moved up to No. 6, while SMU checked in at No. 9 and Clemson soared up five spots to No. 12.

Why did the ACC get so much love from the CFP Committee this past week?

What was different?

Commissioner Phillips and the league stepped up.

“I made those commitments known to the committee members that are watching the ACC,” Phillips said. “Listen, we have to win, or all of this is a moot point about where our ranking is or whether we are in with multiple teams or not. That is the beauty of the college football season.”

What did Phillips and the conference point out to the CFP Selection Committee that had them so high on the ACC this week?

Here is what we have learned in talking with some of our sources. The ACC wanted to make sure the committee had factual numbers in front of them on how the ACC has performed against the other Power 4 leagues so far this season.

  • Winning Record versus the Big 10 (3-2).
  • Winning Record versus the Big 12 (3-2).
  • No other conference has more wins versus the SEC (2).
  • 2nd-most P4 non-conference wins (8) among all conferences.
  • 5 of the 8 P4 non-conference wins have come on the road.
  • Top four ACC-ranked teams have played more P4 non-conference games – ACC (5), SEC (4), Big 12 (4), B1G (1) – than top four ranked teams from other conferences.

The ACC was also brash about its non-conference scheduling and the conference’s success compared to other leagues. It pointed out how winning games matters.

  • Aggressive non-conference slate again this year – 26 games scheduled against Power 4 opponents, including Notre Dame – the most of any conference.
  • Most road wins (41) among all conferences.
  • Best winning percentage (52 percent) in road games among all conferences – ACC only conference with a winning percentage over .500 in road games this year.
  • Most wins (26) in close games – decided by 4 points or fewer – among all conferences.
  • Most wins (44) in one-TD games – decided by 8 points or fewer – among all conferences.
  • 2nd-most non-conference wins (46) among all conferences.

Then of course there is Clemson’s success in the CFP in its first decade. We were told the ACC pointed this out, as Clemson’s six straight appearances from 2015-’20 is a CFP record. The Tigers played for four national championships in five years and won two of them.

Clemson’s six wins are second all-time in the CFP, as are its six appearances. Besides Clemson, the ACC also had FSU make the CFP in 2014 and Notre Dame when it was a league member in 2020.

“I have confidence in the (committee) that they will settle at the right spot,” Phillips said. “But it is important to me, and other commissioners in their own league, to make sure that your voice is heard.

“It is something that we are fighting for… I want to get away from the built-in bias about conferences’ names versus the teams that are in those conferences. SMU does not need some kind of grace period to go from a G5 to a Power 4. They were invited to come up to a level, so they have already stepped up. We don’t need to talk about whether they are really worthy or the rest of it. We just need our teams to continue to win down the stretch here and we will see what happens.”