ACC Tiebreaker Rules
How ACC's published tiebreaker procedure works, and exactly how SportsSimulate's 2026 season simulation evaluates every step - written as reference material independent of any particular week's scenarios.
Five ACC teams play eight conference games and the other twelve play nine, so teams can be tied without identical records: the teams with the best conference winning percentage are tied with any team that played a different number of conference games and has the same number of conference wins or losses (a 7-1 team and a 7-2 team are tied). If no more teams are tied than there are championship game spots left, they all go. Otherwise the steps below apply, and each time a team is placed in the game or dropped from the tie, the process starts over - including deciding who is tied.
Two-team tie
- 1
Head-to-head record
If the tied teams played each other this season, that result decides it directly - among three or more tied teams, this is each team's combined record against just the others in the tie.
- 2
Team Success Ranking
SportSource Analytics' body-of-work ranking, taken after all regular-season games - it rewards results and the quality of the opponents behind them.
Approximated: SportSource Analytics and CFP rankings aren't feeds this app ingests, so this step ranks tied teams by overall winning percentage, then by their conference opponents' combined conference winning percentage.
- 3
Random draw
If every step above still leaves teams tied, the tie is broken by a random draw - in practice, a coin toss.
Three or more teams tied
- 1
Head-to-head among tied teams
If every tied team played every other tied team, the best combined record in those games advances. If not, a tied team that beat every other tied team advances, and a tied team that lost to every other tied team drops out.
- 2
Team Success Ranking
SportSource Analytics' body-of-work ranking, taken after all regular-season games - it rewards results and the quality of the opponents behind them.
Approximated: SportSource Analytics and CFP rankings aren't feeds this app ingests, so this step ranks tied teams by overall winning percentage, then by their conference opponents' combined conference winning percentage.
- 3
Random draw
If every step above still leaves teams tied, the tie is broken by a random draw - in practice, a coin toss.
Official source: ACC Football Tiebreaker Policy (amended July 1, 2026)
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the ACC Championship Game tiebreaker work?
When two or more teams finish tied atop the ACC standings, the conference's own published tiebreaker procedure decides the order - working through each of these 4 steps in turn until one of them produces a winner: Head-to-head record, then Team Success Ranking, then Head-to-head among tied teams, then Random draw.
Did the ACC tiebreaker procedure change for the 2026 season?
Yes - ACC revised its published tiebreaker procedure for 2026. The steps above reflect the current version; see the official source link below for the full policy.
Does strength of schedule affect ACC tiebreakers?
No - ACC's published tiebreaker procedure does not use strength of schedule at all. Ties are broken instead by Head-to-head record, then Team Success Ranking, then Head-to-head among tied teams, falling back to a random draw only if all of those still leave teams even.
Do ACC tiebreakers depend on CFP committee rankings?
No - ACC's published tiebreaker procedure doesn't reference CFP committee rankings at any step.
What happens if a ACC tie is still unbroken after every tiebreaker step?
ACC's procedure falls back to a random draw (in practice, a coin toss) if every step before it - Head-to-head record, then Team Success Ranking, then Head-to-head among tied teams - still leaves the tied teams even.
What's different about how ACC breaks a championship tie?
Five ACC teams play eight conference games and the other twelve play nine, so teams can be tied without identical records: the teams with the best conference winning percentage are tied with any team that played a different number of conference games and has the same number of conference wins or losses (a 7-1 team and a 7-2 team are tied). If no more teams are tied than there are championship game spots left, they all go. Otherwise the steps below apply, and each time a team is placed in the game or dropped from the tie, the process starts over - including deciding who is tied.