Clemson Tigers ACC Championship Rooting Guide For Week 10

Believe it or not, in the middle of November, the Clemson Tigers are still in contention for the ACC Championship.

Clemson is one of six teams still in the hunt for Charlotte in a month from now, and one of four with two losses. The Tigers also have only two more conference games: this weekend against Georgia Tech and a Friday night contest at Duke.

However, it will be a one-week-at-a-time type mentality for head coach Dabo Swinney, but he does need a lot to happen if the Tigers want to have a chance to pick up their 10th ACC Championship under his tenure at the end of the 2026 season. Here’s what will need to happen this week.

1. Win vs. Georgia Tech

First, controlling what’s in front of them is what the Tigers will need to do first.

Clemson hosts Georgia Tech in the final ACC home game of the season for the program, and it’s against a Yellow Jackets squad that has only picked up one conference win this season. Albeit, it was against Duke, one of the other teams the Tigers need to fend off for the spot in Charlotte, but they’ve lost another four straigth going into the contest.

Georgia Tech also have not won away from home yet this season, with Clemson being a heavy favorite to win its third straight game after back-to-back away victories.

That’s the first step here, and then watching the other games will happen.

2. Wake Forest Defeats SMU

This wouldn’t be an end-of-the-world scenario here, but Clemson’s chances of making the ACC Championship would be helpful without SMU in the mix. Here’s why.

A loss for the Mustangs on Saturday would make them a three-loss team in the conference, meaning they would be out of contention while the other three teams, Clemson, Duke and Louisville, remain in the mix. The Tigers control their own destiny in the Duke game, and they would only have to worry about the Demon Deacons and the Cardinals down the line.

If SMU wins this game this Saturday, it’s a top-15 win. Having the Mustangs in the mix of a potential tiebreaker isn’t helpful due to their strong schedule, which the tiebreaker affects. They do still have to play Notre Dame, which depending on how its season ends, it could end up being a valuable boost to the non-conference strength of schedule.

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The idea is that, with Wake Forest, its strength of schedule outside of the conference isn’t strong enough to compete with the likes of Clemson, Louisville and SMU if it does drop another game. The most important thing the Demon Deacons need to do to help the Tigers is lose to Duke in the final game of the regular season.

If Wake Forest loses here, it just makes the tiebreaker situation a lot more complicated.

Clemson benefits here, as long as LSU and South Carolina, which the team plays at the end of the month, keep winning. That helps its resume through the rest of the conference, except perhaps Louisville, which opened the year against Ole Miss and finishes with Kentucky.

Perhaps that Palmetto Bowl performance is what puts the Tigers in.

3. North Carolina Defeats Louisville

Another two-loss program, Louisville, needs to have one more loss to help Clemson’s chances, for reasons we said above. The Cardinals also have Kentucky, which is a team currently ranked in a College Football Playoff spot.

If they can run the table, winning against North Carolina and Pitt, they could be primed for a spot in Charlotte, as long as their other non-conference wins, Ole Miss and Kentucky, continue to win.

There’s a little bit of cushion with Clemson here, but as long as Louisville drops one more, it significantly helps the Tigers’ chances. There’s still plenty more to determine these outcomes in the next three weeks, but as long as Swinney’s group keeps winning, that’s the key for right now.

4. Duke Defeats Miami

This one is for fun, with Clemson most likely needing to have Miami as the opponent in Charlotte to help its chances. However, if you're looking for chaos, this is the game that will help begin that.

The Hurricanes essentially have to lose out if they want to miss the conference championship, but that's not expected to happen with Duke, Virginia Tech and Boston College still remaining on the schedule. If they somehow get to two losses, the non-conference schedule tiebreaker helps Clemson in this case.

But, this one doesn't really matter, unless you're looking for the doomsday ACC scenario that happened last year.

The kickoff between Clemson and Georgia Tech is set for 12:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium, and the game will be broadcast on the CW Network.

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