Joel Klatt picks Miami over Georgia Tech in ACC Championship game

Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt picked Miami over Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship when it’s all said and done. In his latest College Football Playoff projections, Klatt has Miami getting the No. 5 seed while Georgia Tech misses the CFP.

In this scenario, Miami wins out and Georgia Tech slips up against rival Georgia in the season finale, setting up two 11-1 teams for the conference crown. But, the Hurricanes get the upper hand.

“Georgia Tech is undefeated right now, and their toughest remaining game, not in the ACC, when they take on Georgia later this year,” Klatt said on his podcast. “That’s their last game of the year. Let’s just say for the sake of argument, Georgia wins that game. Georgia Tech is 11-1, but undefeated in the ACC. They’re in the championship game. Now, there are a lot of scenarios of teams that could back themselves into playing in the ACC Championship Game, including a wild one with Virginia. And I know Virginia has played well and they’re only a one loss team right now, but they’ve got kind of a really wonky scheduling thing that we’ll get to later in the program, and I’ll share with you based on some of these schedules. 

“Though, when you’re looking at teams like Virginia or Louisville, I think Miami, if they’re able to win out, is still going to be the other team in the ACC championship game. So in this model, Georgia Tech would face Miami, both of them being 11-1. I think Miami is the better team. So I’ve got Miami winning the ACC Championship. They would be a 12-1 champion, and Georgia Tech would be an 11-2 non-champion.”

The remaining schedule for Miami includes: at SMU, vs. Syracuse, vs. NC State, at Virginia Tech and at Pitt. For Georgia Tech, they have: at NC State, at Boston College, vs. Pitt and vs. Georgia.

However it shakes out, Virginia could have something to say, as well as Louisville, since both only have one ACC loss. But most are likely projecting Miami or Georgia Tech to win the ACC.

The kicker is, despite Georgia Tech losing only to Georgia and Miami in a Power Four game and a conference title game, the Yellow Jackets are left out. 

Maybe that’s not the case, but in Klatt’s projections, it’s a harsh reality. A lot is on the line as the calendar turns to November.