LAS VEGAS — ACC commissioner Jim Phillips on Wednesday mentioned his convention will look at the league’s tiebreaker coverage and will add a component that features the Faculty Soccer Playoff rankings after the winner of its championship sport was overlooked of the 12-team Playoff.
Duke beat Virginia 27-20 in time beyond regulation on Saturday to win the convention, however the Blue Devils had been unranked, opening a spot for Solar Belt champion James Madison as one of many 5 highest-ranked convention champions, which obtain automated bids.
Duke, which went 7-5 within the common season, gained the five-way tiebreaker for second place. Miami, the league’s highest-ranked workforce within the CFP rankings, didn’t play within the ACC title sport and confronted neither Virginia or Duke through the common season. Miami was nonetheless included within the Playoff area as an at-large choice, seeded No. 10.
The league adopted its tiebreaker insurance policies after scrapping divisions forward of the 2024 season. Phillips mentioned the coverage was “unanimously supported.”
“Who knew that we’d get to the seventh tiebreaker with 5 groups that had been 6-2? The celebs aligned in a manner that no one predicted,” Phillips mentioned from the SBJ Intercollegiate Athletics Discussion board.
“No person ought to throw shade on Duke. Everyone had an opportunity to be a part of that tiebreaker, they usually performed nice,” Phillips mentioned. “They gained the league. I used to be tremendous comfortable for Duke. It labored out the best way it’s imagined to work.”
If Miami had been overlooked, the Energy 4 convention may have missed the Playoff utterly. ACC partial member Notre Dame, nevertheless, was overlooked, which has led to a public back-and-forth between the varsity and the ACC. At a information convention on Tuesday, Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua mentioned the ACC engaged in a sustained, focused assault on the Irish with social media posts evaluating Miami to the Irish.
The ACC Community additionally aired a marathon of the Notre Dame-Miami sport final week. The Hurricanes beat the Irish 27-24 in Week 1, however had been ranked beneath Notre Dame in each CFP rating till the ultimate one. The Irish elected to not take part in a bowl sport after the snub.
Phillips declined to enter element on Notre Dame past an announcement launched earlier this week, however raised issues concerning the weekly rankings present on ESPN when the choice committee’s high 25 is unveiled.
Within the run-up to the ultimate bracket this 12 months, the Notre Dame-Miami debate was persistently probably the most heated.
“I believe the weekly exhibits, they draw a whole lot of curiosity. However they’re extremely disruptive and really onerous for the members and for the conferences. I perceive why we do the exhibits, and it’s a part of the settlement with ESPN, nevertheless it causes nice nervousness all through,” Phillips mentioned. “And I believe we’ve to discover a higher manner transferring ahead because it pertains to a few of that pre-information.”
He added: “It simply places such stress and friction early on. I don’t have a decision for that, nevertheless it’s one thing we’ve to speak about and may discuss.”
If the league’s tiebreaker got here right down to CFP rankings, a convention wouldn’t verify its matchup till Tuesday night of Championship Week, when the rankings are unveiled.
Phillips mentioned he want to see each convention institute a CFP rankings element to their convention tiebreakers to chop down on confusion about tiebreakers inside the conferences, which differ extensively.
Phillips mentioned he made the case for Duke to be included within the CFP area over James Madison.
“They’d seven P4 wins. A top-20 win. I used to be upset for Duke, however I perceive. JMU had an awesome season,” Phillips mentioned.
Phillips additionally added that he supported increasing the Playoff and was hopeful the convention commissioners and Notre Dame may attain a consensus earlier than the just lately prolonged Jan. 23 deadline to finalize the mannequin for 2026.
Throughout a panel on the discussion board, Phillips mentioned the results of the CFP area this 12 months formed his stance for quick change to the Playoff.
“If you happen to’re leaving groups out of the Playoff that may win the nationwide championship, you then don’t have the suitable quantity,” he mentioned.
