Southern Methodist University (SMU) has officially clinched a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship Game after defeating the University of South Florida (USF) on Saturday, November 11th. The Mustangs' victory secured an outright ACC East Division title, marking their first division championship since joining the conference in 2013.
The University of Miami (Miami) is still in contention for the ACC Coastal Division title, but their path to the championship game is slightly more complicated. The Hurricanes need to defeat the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) in the regular season finale and hope that Virginia Tech loses to the University of Virginia (UVA). If both scenarios occur, Miami will claim the division crown.
An upset victory by Wake Forest over Clemson could also shake up the Coastal Division standings. If Wake Forest wins and Miami loses, Wake Forest would claim the division title and advance to the championship game against SMU.
If the current standings hold, SMU and Miami will face off in the ACC Championship Game on December 2nd. This would be the first time these two teams have met in the conference championship game.
"SMU has been the most consistent team in the ACC East all season," said former ACC Network analyst Mark Richt. "They have a lot of experience in big games, and they're led by a talented quarterback in Shane Buechele."
"Miami has a lot of work to do to get to the championship game," said ESPN writer David Hale. "They need Pitt and UVA to lose, and they need to take care of business against Pitt."
The regular season finales will take place on Saturday, November 25th. The ACC Championship Game will be held at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on December 2nd.
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