What needs to happen for Clemson to get back into the ACC Championship race.

This season is the first of division-less football in the ACC. No divisional races, just the two teams with the best conference record meeting in Charlotte to crown a champion.

For Clemson, this could be a blessing as they try to claw their way back into the championship game and maintain some kind of outside hope at a College Football Playoff birth, however unlikely it is.

Prior to the Duke game, the thought process was simple: whether Clemson won or lost to Florida State, both teams would run the table and meet again in the postseason. Now the road for the Tigers is a lot murkier and they're going to need some help. We have to start with where things currently sit in the conference.

Current ACC records

Louisville 3-0
Florida State 3-0
North Carolina 2-0
Duke 1-0
Georgia Tech 2-1
Clemson 2-2
NC State 1-1
Virginia Tech 1-1
Boston College 1-2
Miami 0-1
Syracuse 0-2
Wake Forest 0-2
Pitt 0-2
Virginia 0-2

With two losses already, Clemson is in a tough spot. The two teams with the "highest winning percentage in conference games" will go to the ACC Championship. Any teams with identical records will have the tie broken by head-to-head results. That means, to start, Clemson would need to win every game AND have Duke or Florida State drop THREE conference games. The two-team tiebreakers are listed below.

Head-to-head competition between the two tied teams
Win-percentage versus all common opponents
Win-percentage versus common opponents based on their order of finish and proceeding through other common opponents based upon their order of finish
Combined win percentage of conference opponents
The tied team with the higher ranking by the Team Rating Score metric provided by SportSource Analytics following the conclusion of regular season games
The representative shall be chosen by a draw as administered by the Commissioner or Commissioner’s designee

Let's say for argument's sake that Duke drops three, which is very possible; Duke's next five games are: NC State, @ Florida State, @ Louisville, Wake Forest, and @ North Carolina. Great, Clemson now needs everyone else to drop at least two games.

Again, for argument's sake, let's say that happens. Clemson has to be picky about who beats who. For example, if Louisville drops two games, but manages to beat Duke, the second tiebreaker could come into play. If Louisville beats Duke, and loses to Miami, and Clemson beats Miami, we could go for a while down the list.

To simplify it, here are the results coming up that Clemson fans need to be pulling for:

Duke to drop their next two games: NC State and at Florida State (Yes, you have to pull for FSU. They're not dropping three games).
Duke to then beat Louisville and then lose any of their next four games.
Louisville to drop the game to Duke and any of their next five opponents.

If the above happens, and Clemson wins out, the Tigers should have a shot at the ACC Championship and revenge against Florida State.