​The ACC finalized new tiebreaker rules on Wednesday, July 15, after the conference was nearly left out of the College Football Playoff entirely last season due to Duke reaching the championship game.The Blue Devils went 7-5 last season before defeating Virginia in the ACC championship game. They were tied with Miami, Pittsburgh, SMU and Georgia Tech at 6-2 in conference play, and earned a spot for the conference crown thanks to a long list of tiebreakers.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe league simulated more than 10,000 seasons in its tiebreaker review to “ensure the model fairly addressed a wide range of championship scenarios.” The ACC is also transitioning to a 9-game conference schedule in 2026, aiming for a more equitable schedule among each team.REQUIRED READING: ACC football predictions, preseason awards, all-conference teamsThe new tiebreaker rules are built on three core principles, according to the conference’s announcement. Among those is the team with the “strongest overall body of work” will earn the spot in ACC title game, along with subsequent best chance at a CFP bid.Miami, who moved into the CFP field for the first time in weeks when the bracket was revealed, squeaked into the CFP field over Notre Dame despite not playing in the ACC championship. The Hurricanes were the highest-ranked team in the conference by far, but were nearly cost their run to the national championship game due to the conference’s tiebreaker scenarios.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”The updated championship tiebreaker policy was developed to reward head-to-head results, account for the league’s teams playing an alternate number of conference games, while also identifying the two most deserving teams to compete for the ACC Football Championship and the conference’s automatic berth into the College Football Playoff,” the announcement said.Here’s a look at the conference’s new tiebreaker rules:Defining Tied TeamsA. Step 1: Identify the team or teams with the best Conference win percentage;plus,B. Step 2: Any team or teams which played an alternate number of Conferencegames and have either the same number of Conference wins or the samenumber of Conference losses as the team(s) identified in Step 1.C. No other teams may be defined as Tied TeamsOnce the Tied Teams have been identifiedA. In the event of a tie involving teams which played an alternate number ofConference games, all ties will be broken starting with the highest winpercentage, working downward.B. Two-Team Tiei. The tied team which defeated the other tied team in head-to-headConference competition.ii. The tied team with the better ranking in the Team Success Rankingprovided by SportSource Analytics following the conclusion of allregular-season games.iii. The participant shall be chosen by a draw as administered by the Commissioner or Commissioner’s designee.B. Three (or more) Team TieIf all the Tied Teams are common opponents:The Tied Team with the best record among the Tied Teams;