It hasn’t been a year that the ACC has been at the top of the college football world, and Miami’s loss to Georgia Tech could make the outlook even bleaker for the conference’s College Football Playoff. Miami dropped to 12th place in the rankings after this weekend’s defeat. College Football Playoff Standings — Right on the edge of the 12-man field. Let’s face it, the Playoff includes not only the top 12 ranked teams, but also the five highest-seeded conference champions, followed by seven at-large bids.

Now, whichever team wins the ACC Championship will certainly qualify for the CFP, but with Miami no longer undefeated, there is only one undefeated team left in ACC play – SMU – and the Mustangs have one loss to BYU on their overall record.

What does this mean? This means we could see a one-bid ACC in the College Football Playoff this season. Let’s say SMU wins but loses to Miami in the ACC Championship. If that happens, it seems unlikely that the Mustangs will suddenly make the playoffs, even though their two losses will fall to BYU and Miami (two teams that will inevitably make the field), the strength of their wins won’t be very convincing to the committee. .

What about Clemson? The Tigers, ranked 17th in this week’s AP Poll at 7-2, are hanging on to the CFP by a thread. This team has an opportunity to build its resume with remaining games against Pitt and South Carolina, and the South Carolina game on November 30th could be what decides this team’s fate. Oddly enough, winning but not making the ACC Championship Game would probably be better for Clemson’s chances — and the only way it could envision all three teams in the conference making it — than making the championship game and losing.

But the ACC would be happy with two teams at this point, and the best chance for that to happen would be for both SMU and Miami to win and for SMU to beat Miami in the ACC Championship game. But even then, it’s far from certain that Miami will face two losses.

It might seem odd to say that Louisville, a team that won’t make the College Football Playoff, controls the fate of this conference, but it may be true. Louisville is a good team, beaten by both Miami and SMU. If the Cardinals finish the season strong, Miami and SMU’s resumes will look much stronger, giving them a better shot at two bids to the ACC.

If Louisville doesn’t finish strong, in other words, loses Kentucky — The Selection Committee is much more likely to neglect the ACC overall. That’s why the Louisville-Kentucky matchup has suddenly become a big deal in the college football world.

Miami’s loss likely destroyed the conference’s chances of sending two teams to the College Football Playoff. The last hope that both Miami and SMU can sneak in would be if Louisville beats Kentucky. What kind of world do we live in?