It’s too early to predict which teams might be going to which bowls, but here is overall ACC bowl outlook, using today’s polls in place of the CFP rankings which will first appear on Nov. 5.
If the season ended today, the ACC would have the following 11 bowl spots.
1. CFB Playoffs - Clemson (#4 today, ACC is in danger of losing this spot)
2-3. NY6 - Notre Dame, Orange Bowl (vs best of available SEC/Big10/Notre Dame). ACC has little or no chance at a second NY6 bowl. SEC looks like it have the best available team for the Orange. If ND falls out of NY6 contention, they will take an ACC bowl spot further down the chain.
4. Camping World Bowl.
5-8. Tier One Bowls (Belk, Sun, Pinstripe, Music/Gator)
9-11 Military, Independence. Quick Lane.
Other possibilities:
12 Citrus/Birmingham. An ACC team will get a Citrus Bowl invite if their Orange Bowl opponent is from the Big 10. Right now however, an SEC team is more likely. However, if the SEC gets a Citrus Bowl bid, they may not have enough teams to put one in the Birmingham Bowl, which would then become an ACC bowl. So one or the other is a possibility for an ACC bowl, but probably not both.
13. Gasparilla Bowl. American vs. Conf USA. ACC gets a shot if either conference can’t fill their spot, but both conferences appear to have teams available right now.
So if we assume 11 bowls, the ACC has 5 teams 5-2 or better, 4 teams at 4-3, 4 teams at 3-4.
That’s 13 teams still with a reasonable shot at 6 wins, besides ND.
And if BC has a good showing, but not a victory, against Clemson and/or ND, that may reduce those 11 bowls to 9 without improving BC's W-L record.
And if all 13 teams that are 3-4 or better somehow end up with 6 wins, then there is a numbers problem in the ACC bowls and it’s not yet clear if it can resolved by the many other bowls. The more likely scenario is the 8 teams at 4-3 or 3-4 will reduce themselves to 5 or 6 by bowl selection time.
So what helps the ACC now?
- Clemson making the CFB playoffs
- ND making the NY6 bowls
- Wisconsin clawing back into the Top 12 and gaining an Orange Bowl bid, thus giving the ACC a Citrus Bowl bid.
- And for BC, obviously going 3-0 against Syracuse, FSU, Pitt.
If the season ended today, the ACC would have the following 11 bowl spots.
1. CFB Playoffs - Clemson (#4 today, ACC is in danger of losing this spot)
2-3. NY6 - Notre Dame, Orange Bowl (vs best of available SEC/Big10/Notre Dame). ACC has little or no chance at a second NY6 bowl. SEC looks like it have the best available team for the Orange. If ND falls out of NY6 contention, they will take an ACC bowl spot further down the chain.
4. Camping World Bowl.
5-8. Tier One Bowls (Belk, Sun, Pinstripe, Music/Gator)
9-11 Military, Independence. Quick Lane.
Other possibilities:
12 Citrus/Birmingham. An ACC team will get a Citrus Bowl invite if their Orange Bowl opponent is from the Big 10. Right now however, an SEC team is more likely. However, if the SEC gets a Citrus Bowl bid, they may not have enough teams to put one in the Birmingham Bowl, which would then become an ACC bowl. So one or the other is a possibility for an ACC bowl, but probably not both.
13. Gasparilla Bowl. American vs. Conf USA. ACC gets a shot if either conference can’t fill their spot, but both conferences appear to have teams available right now.
So if we assume 11 bowls, the ACC has 5 teams 5-2 or better, 4 teams at 4-3, 4 teams at 3-4.
That’s 13 teams still with a reasonable shot at 6 wins, besides ND.
And if BC has a good showing, but not a victory, against Clemson and/or ND, that may reduce those 11 bowls to 9 without improving BC's W-L record.
And if all 13 teams that are 3-4 or better somehow end up with 6 wins, then there is a numbers problem in the ACC bowls and it’s not yet clear if it can resolved by the many other bowls. The more likely scenario is the 8 teams at 4-3 or 3-4 will reduce themselves to 5 or 6 by bowl selection time.
So what helps the ACC now?
- Clemson making the CFB playoffs
- ND making the NY6 bowls
- Wisconsin clawing back into the Top 12 and gaining an Orange Bowl bid, thus giving the ACC a Citrus Bowl bid.
- And for BC, obviously going 3-0 against Syracuse, FSU, Pitt.
