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CHARLOTTE, N.C.
- The ACC's summer promotional football media event kicked-off Wednesday, with the annual state-of-the-conference remarks from Commissioner Jim Phillips, who is beginning his sixth year on the job.
Mixed in with Phillips usual remarks about the conference's success on a national stage during his five year tenure, was a bit of developing news.
The conference announced Wednesday that beginning with the 2026 football season, there will be a new tiebreaking procedure to determine the top two teams to meet in the ACC football championship game.
Differing conference schedules for the league's 17 teams meant a change to the rules Due to the mathematical complications fitting 17 teams into nine regular season games, and pre-existing non-conference matchus that have already been scheduled for the transitional 2026 schedule, 12 ACC teams will play nine conference games this season (including the Orange), while five teams will play eight league games.
To make sure the unbalanced league schedule does not penalize teams who may have a tougher path to finishing as one of the top two teams in the standings, the conference instituted three major points in determining who plays for the new automatic qualifying bid to the College Football Playoff that goes to the ACC champion.
"Head-to-head will always matter the most," Phillips explained in detailing the criteria that was unanimously approved by ACC head coaches.
"Then we will look at the grouping and how teams fared in the regular conference season." Phillips said the league, working with several consultants, conducted some 10,000 tests of algorithms running different season scenarios, spending an enormous amount of time to come up with a formula that sends the best two teams to Charlotte on December 5, as the title game moves to a 12:00 p.m.
ET start on ABC.
"It will come down to body of work," Phillips added.
"Who you play, when you play, the games you win, in conference and non-conference will matter.
That's a major change in college sports and certainly for the ACC." Syracuse takes to the press conference stage on Wednesday Traveling to Charlotte a day ahead of the Syracuse contingent consisting of head coach Fran Brown, quarterback Steve Angeli, linebacker Antonio Deslauriers, and defensive back Demetres Samuel Jr., was Orange athletic director Bryan Blair, spotted socializing Wednesday morning next to the event's large "Radio Row" set-up off the hotel's lobby.
Blair, one of two new ADs hired by ACC schools this year, spent some time with Phillips on the eve of the "Kickoff," and told us casually Wednesday he feels the Orange will be a better team than perhaps many in the media will forecast when the preseason order-of-finish is released next week.
"It's been an exhilarating learning experience so far," Blair said of his nearly four months at the Lally complex, although only two weeks of which has he officially held the title as the school's AD.
"We're just getting started (in the job)," Blair added.
"I feel good about where we stand heading into the (football) season.
I think we can surprise people." SUPPORT THE JUICE ONLINE Follow us on Twitter @TheJuiceOnline, like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram @SUJuiceOnline and listen to our podcast.