Florida State won the Atlantic. Now, all that is left is to decipher the Coastal, which VT and Miami helped to make a very interesting (and entertaining) place tonight.
Coastal
At this point, it's a four way battle of the two loss teams, none of which controls their own destiny at the moment: Georgia Tech (5-2), Virginia Tech (4-2), Miami (3-2), and Duke (3-2).
It is impossible for a four way tie, since Duke and Miami play next week, and therefore, one team will be at 3 losses.
GT lost to VT and Miami, but beat Duke.
VT lost to Duke, but beat GT and Miami.
Miami lost to VT, beat GT, and has yet to play Duke.
Duke lost to GT, beat VT, and has yet to play Miami.
VT and Miami have the edge in multi-way tiebreakers because their second losses came from the Atlantic division, so they would have a better division record. Duke's second loss was to Pitt.
What also makes this race interesting is that GT still has a measure of control over the division, since they only have one conference game left, even though they will still need help from two other teams. If they win, then they eliminate any team with 3 or more losses.
If GT wins on Thursday, we have two possibilities for a three way tie, based on the Miami/Duke game:
Miami/VT/GT: VT wins on head-to-head.
Duke/VT/GT: VT wins based on division record.
If two of those teams lose another one, here are the scenarios for a two way tie at 2 losses:
VT/Miami: VT wins head-to-head.
VT/GT: VT wins head-to-head.
VT/Duke: Duke wins head-to-head.
GT/Miami: Miami wins head-to-head.
GT/Duke: GT wins head-to-head.
So, looking at that, here is what each team needs to gain control of their destiny:
Virginia Tech - a GT win OR a Duke loss.
Georgia Tech - a VT loss AND a Miami loss.
Duke - a GT loss.
Miami - a VT loss.
Pitt and UNC are both sitting back with three losses, hoping to see everyone else stumble. Regardless of what GT does on Thursday, one of these teams will definitely be eliminated by the end of Saturday, since they play each other. Of the two, I think only Pitt even has a chance, since UNC has lost to three of the current 2 loss teams.
UVA (0-6) has been officially out for a while now.
Bowl eligible: Virginia Tech, Clemson, Florida State, Miami, Duke, Georgia Tech
One win away: Maryland, Syracuse, Boston College, Pitt
One loss away from not going: Wake Forest, NC State
Not bowl eligible: UVA
The Road to the ACC Championship Game:
November 14:
Georgia Tech @ Clemson
-This game will give control to a team in the Coastal division, but not GT.
November 16:
Miami @ Duke
-This game will break one of the ties in the division.
Maryland @ VT
-By itself, this game doesn't mean much. But, based on the outcome of the other games, this game could be the final nail for somebody.
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