Clemson CFP hopes are alive, ACC wins title game against SMU after loss in Miami

CLEMSON – Coming off Miami’s surprising 42-38 road loss to Syracuse on Saturday, Clemson football heads to the ACC Championship Game and advances to the College Football Playoff if the Tigers beat SMU.

The No. 12 Tigers (9-3, 7-1 ACC) will face No. 9 SMU at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. They had only one path to the playoffs after Saturday’s 17-14 loss to rival No. 14 South Carolina at Memorial Stadium, needing Syracuse (9-3, 5-3) to beat the No. 7 Hurricanes (10-3). 2, 6-2).

According to ESPN’s FPI, Clemson had a 9 percent chance of winning the conference beginning Saturday. The Tigers overcame those slim odds thanks to Miami’s shocking loss, which gave them a better conference record than the Hurricanes.

SMU (11-1, 8-0) secured a spot in the ACC Championship Game last week. The Tigers will likely have to beat SMU to get into the CFP, as their loss to South Carolina ended their chances of earning one of the seven overall bids.

SMU will be the designated “home team” in the conference championship as it finished ahead of Clemson in the standings.

Winning the conference is especially important this season because the ACC champion receives an automatic bid and likely a bye in the first round of the 12-team College Football Playoff. The four best-placed conference champions receive a bye.

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