Virginia, Louisville losses send ACC race for CFP spot into chaos

Here is how chaotic the race for the ACC Championship Game, and by extension, a chance to play for the College Football Playoff, currently is.

It seems impossible, but it is not. It was all made possible by No. 14 Virginia and No. 15 Louisville both losing on Saturday — and both at home — to unranked ACC opponents. 

Virginia dropped a 16-9 decision to Wake Forest, while Louisville lost a walk-off overtime game to California. 

Those results are seismic shifts for the conference — and potentially the College Football Playoff field.

ACC playoff spot is completely up for grabs

With Saturday’s results, there are now five teams in the ACC that all have exactly one loss in conference play: Georgia Tech, Virginia, Pitt, SMU and Duke. 

Even though Duke is only 5-4 overall, its 5-1 record in conference play keeps it very much alive in this race. And with remaining games against Virginia, North Carolina and Wake Forest, there is definitely a path for the Blue Devils to play their way into this. None of those games is unwinnable.

Louisville and No. 18 Miami (a big winner over Syracuse on Saturday) sit just behind with two losses each in the conference and need a lot of help the rest of the way. 

The next three weeks are going to be especially intense because a lot of these teams play each other, which will help sort out the field. 

The most consequential games remaining are Virginia visiting Duke on Nov. 15, Pitt visiting Georgia Tech on Nov. 22, Louisville visiting SMU that same weekend and Miami visiting Pitt on Nov. 29.

All of those games are going to play a major role in determining who plays in Charlotte in early December for the conference championship.

We know the ACC is going to get a team in the 12-team field. It will almost certainly only be a one-team league. But somebody will be there. It is just a completely wide-open race, and anybody’s guess as to which team that is going to be.

They will all have a chance to determine that over the next three weeks by beating up on each other. Are they the best teams in the country and playing at the highest level? No. But there might not be a more intriguing conference in terms of volatility and how unpredictable the whole thing is going to be.