Heather Dinich illuminates light on path to ACC becoming one-bid College Football Playoff league

Heather Dinich believes there is a real possibility that the ACC gets only one team in this season’s College Football Playoff. The ESPN senior writer joined the College Football Playoff: Top 25 show on Tuesday to preview storylines with the initial rankings set to drop in two weeks.

According to Dinich, it all comes down to Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are currently unbeaten at 7-0 (4-0 ACC) and rank No. 7 in the AP Poll. However, they also have a strength of schedule that ranks near the bottom of the FBS.

The good news is Georgia Tech will have an opportunity to get that quality win when it faces in-state rival Georgia in the final week of the regular season. If they lose that game and also fail to win the ACC Championship, however, it gets a bit trickier.

“It could be (a one-bid league) depending on what happens with Georgia Tech,” Dinich explained. “I’m very curious in that first ranking on Nov. 4 what the committee does with the Yellow Jackets if they’re still undefeated. Because when you look at their resume and we talk about strength of schedule, they’re one of the worst in the country at No. 94.

“A win against Georgia in that regular season finale would do wonders for them. But let’s assume they lose. If they lose and they don’t win the ACC, how does the committee deal with a two-loss Georgia Tech team that played for the ACC title but has one of the worst schedule strengths in the country? That’s where you potentially see the league being in danger of just having Miami get into it, or the ACC champion, whoever that might be.”

The Yellow Jackets are led by quarterback Haynes King, who has made himself a dark horse candidate for the Heisman Trophy with his peformance so far. He’s thrown for 1,176 yards and four touchdowns to just one interception, but most of his damage has come on the ground with 560 yards rushing and 10 TDs.

The ACC got two teams in the College Football Playoff last season as SMU still made the field after losing in the conference championship against Clemson. The Mustangs had two losses, and the decision to include them over a number of SEC schools came with plenty of controversy.

It will be interesting to see whether the committee will put more emphasis on the strength of schedule metric this year, though. The safest bet for the Yellow Jackets is to win out, of course, but that is easier said than done.