The ACC receives unmistakable message from the CFP Committee

The College Football Playoff selection committee delivered an unmistakable message to the ACC on Tuesday night: the depth is nice, but without top-end teams, the ACC is clearly behind its peers. That evaluation probably puts the ACC into the "one-bid" category. In the first CFP rankings of the 2025 season, Virginia debuted as the ACC's highest-rated team at No. 14, followed by Louisville (15), Georgia Tech (17), Miami (18) and Pittsburgh (24). No ACC program cracked the top 13.

Contrast that with the Big Ten and SEC. Ohio State opened at No. 1 with fellow Big Ten unbeaten Indiana at No. 2, and Oregon joined the top 10 at No. 9. The SEC added three one-loss powers in the top six — Alabama (4), Georgia (5) and Ole Miss (6) — and that's in addition to an undefeated Texas A&M at No. 3. The Big 12 placed BYU and Texas Tech at Nos. 7 and 8, respectively, while independent Notre Dame slotted at No. 10. The ACC’s best, by comparison, started in the teens and behind a couple of two-loss SEC squads (Texas and Oklahoma) as well as two-loss Utah.

Another gut punch to the ACC was the selection committee not honoring Miami's head-to-head win over Notre Dame. The committee honored No. 4 Alabama's H2H win over No. 5 Georgia, the Bulldogs win over No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 11 Texas' win against No. 12 Oklahoma, No. 19 USC's H2H win over No. 21 Michigan, and the Wolverines victory over No. 23 Washington. Miami beat the Irish 27-24 in the Aug. 31 opener in Miami Gardens, yet two months later Notre Dame sits eight spots higher at No. 10 while the Hurricanes are No. 18. And both teams have the same record.

That gap is another reflection of what the committee thinks of the ACC — and certainly what they think of Miami — which hurt them this week.

Now this isn't a doomsday scenario for the ACC. The CFP's model guarantees bids to the five highest-ranked conference champions and it doesn't seem like the ACC is going to lose out to two Group of Six champions. Memphis was the G6 representative and they were not ranked within Tuesday's Top 25.