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The ACC will have a representative in the College Football Playoff. The Miami Hurricanes made the 12-team field following a 10-2 output in the 2025 season.
There was concern that the league would be snubbed from national championship contention after Duke’s win over Virginia in the conference title game. The committee prevented that possibility from become reality during the selection process.
The ACC found itself in a predicament when the Blue Devils made the championship contest. Duke was 7-5 with losses to Tulane and UCONN. It was awarded a tiebreaker win after finishing the year in a five-way deadlock for second place in the league standings.
A win over the Cavaliers would give the ACC a five-loss champion unlikely to make the CFP field. It came to fruition when the Blue Devils beat UVA in overtime.
Duke’s win opened the door for JMU and Tulane to make the College Football Playoff as Group of Five champions. It also presented the possibility of stripping the ACC of a $4 million paycheck.
The committee made sure it didn’t happen.
The Miami Hurricanes made the CFP.
Prior to championship week, Notre Dame was ranked ahead of Miami. That standing was controversial in and of itself due to the Hurricanes’ head-to-head win over the Irish.
The committee made things all the more confusing on Sunday.
Neither team played on championship Saturday. Nothing happened on the field that would impact their rankings. Nevertheless, their positions changed.
Miami was ahead of Notre Dame in the final CFP ranking. The committee says that BYU’s loss to Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship was the reason.
.@CFBPlayoff Selection Committee chair Hunter Yurachek breaks down what went into the decision for 10-seed Miami to make the playoffs 👀 pic.twitter.com/DFo7K18Wna
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) December 7, 2025
“Once we moved Miami ahead of BYU, then we had that side-by-side comparison that everyone had been hungering for, with Notre Dame and Miami,” said committee chair Hunter Yurachek. “The one metric we had to fall back on was the head-to-head.”
Miami and Notre Dame were separated by two spots in the previous rankings. The College Football Playoff committee refused to use head-to-head results when not side by side.
BYU dropped after their latest loss. It allowed the Hurricanes to slide up next to the Irish. Now, head-to-head became a factor.
The decision didn’t make a ton of sense regardless of which team was more deserving. It did, however, save ACC officiating from controversy.
The ACC will have a playoff team.
That will prove beneficial. The College Football Playoff pays out $4 million to the conference for each team that makes the field. The ACC will not be snubbed.
Prior to the final rankings reveal, a controversial clip from Duke’s win over Clemson surfaced on social media. The Blue Devils were awarded a questionable interference call on an incomplete pass that would’ve ended the game.
hahahhaa HOW https://t.co/IzxQEJZL1v pic.twitter.com/vF0npBFHcT
— Liam Blutman (@Blutman27) November 1, 2025
Duke got another shot with the free first down. Trailing by a touchdown, they later scored and converted a two-point play to win the contest.
That victory would prove to be the difference at season’s end given the five-way tie for second place. It allowed the Blue Devils to win the ACC title.
Had the league been robbed of playoff representation because of that championship result, the debatable interference call might’ve received more attention.
The College Football Playoff committee shielded officiating from controversy. The Miami Hurricanes will secure the $4 million ACC payday.