‘Not fair at all.’ In the super-sized conference era, a school’s fate could hinge on tiebreakers

PITTSBURGH AP Just the thought of it makes Pat Narduzzi cringe There the Pitt football coach is standing in front of his players after a largely achieving season explaining to the Panthers why they aren t going to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship meeting It might not have anything to do with what they did or didn t do on the field but because of a spreadsheet that explains the league s byzantine tiebreaker guidelines says I think there s nothing worse than walking in a club room saying Sorry guys we re not going because we didn t play that company or they didn t play that band Narduzzi disclosed But it s not my job it s what the ACC did The modern expansion to super-sized versions of the ACC Big Ten Big and SEC all of which have at least teams all of which have done away with the idea of separate divisions means the days of everybody pretty much playing everybody and having it largely sorted out between the lines are long gone in the chase to reach the College Football Playoff Welcome to the superconference era of as Duke coach Manny Diaz put it unintended consequences And it s especially messy in the ACC There s a real chance that at least one of the two spots in the ACC championship will be determined by criteria other than head-to-head The list of tiebreakers that follows includes record against common opponents and the combined winning percentage of conference opponents That one is particularly problematic for Narduzzi whose rd-ranked Panthers - - are among five one-loss teams while No Miami and No Louisville lurk close behind in the league race Conference schedules are set years in advance The second-winningest coach in Pitt history wonders why a company should be penalized for having a lackluster schedule during a given year when that schedule is out of his hands Demanded if it s fair for teams to be at the mercy of the schedule makers he shook his head Not fair at all he disclosed Just divided Narduzzi preferred the old ACC model featuring two divisions Teams played each of their division peers with a limited number of games against the other division Pitt won its only ACC championship in by winning the Coastal Division then topping Wake Forest in the title encounter The Panthers went - to finish a meeting clear of the Coastal field beating all but Miami that season It all kind of made sense Now It will make you dizzy he declared I don t even look at the standings I don t care Pitt closes with a trip to No Georgia Tech and a home finale against Miami while Diaz and Duke - - will try to make things even murkier on Saturday when the Blue Devils face No Virginia - - It makes Diaz long for a simpler time During his high school career at Miami Country Day there was once a five-team tie for a playoff spot So all five teams met at the same stadium and played a series of Kansas tiebreakers meaning possession starts at the opponent s -yard line until a winner emerged I m all for it if five teams want to show up in Charlotte or whatever just put the ball down at the and figure out the ACC championship he mentioned with a laugh But Diaz isn t sure Narduzzi s preference toward divisional play makes much sense either considering the size of the Power Four leagues Why have - band conferences only to cut them in half and never play the other side he mentioned That s called two conferences And that s what s so silly about this whole thing Like we just as I was saying the unintended consequences are remarkable As for Virginia the surprising Cavaliers have had their own quirky slate The association picked to finish th in the ACC in the preseason lost only once in the first two months That came at N C State in a nonconference matchup between longtime league members which didn t count in the league race because it came outside the league s scheduling model That meeting wouldn t factor into any league tiebrakers though the Cavaliers wiggle room vanished in last weekend s home upset loss to Wake Forest that included quarterback Chandler Morris being knocked from the event Still coach Tony Elliott who happens to have a degree in industrial engineering and is a self-proclaimed math guy knows there s at least one simple passage I think if you win all your ACC games you know you have an opportunity to be in Charlotte he reported Plus that stuff is too complicated Even though I m a math guy It hurts my brain So I ve got to focus on getting the club ready to play not what the tiebreaker scenarios are Beyond the ACC The tiebreakers could have a major say in the other power conferences too The Big has six teams with no more than two league losses and the only remaining head-to-head matchup between those teams is No BYU - - at No Cincinnati - - on Nov The only teams with total control of their destiny to get to the Big title challenge in Arlington Texas are No Texas Tech - - and the winner of that BYU-Cincinnati encounter In the Southeastern Conference No Texas A M and No Alabama are undefeated in league play The Crimson Tide can secure a spot in the Atlanta title match by beating No Oklahoma in Tuscaloosa on Saturday and by winning the Iron Bowl at Auburn two weeks later The Aggies can punch their ticket by topping South Carolina in College Station this weekend and then winning at No Texas two weeks later If either stumbles league tiebreakers would come into play and open the door for one-loss teams like No Georgia No Mississippi and No Texas And in the Big Ten No Ohio State and No Indiana are the only unbeaten teams They don t play each other in the regular season and are on a collision program to meet in Indianapolis for the league title No Michigan which hosts the Buckeyes on Nov in Ann Arbor No Oregon and No Southern California still have paths if the Buckeyes or Hoosiers slip up AP College Sports Writers Aaron Beard in Raleigh North Carolina and Eric Olson in Lincoln Nebraska AP Sports Writer Stephen Hawkins in Dallas and Mark Long in Gainesville Florida and AP freelance writer Mike Barber in Charlottesville Virginia contributed to this summary Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top throughout the season Sign up here and here AP News mobile app AP college football https apnews com hub ap-top- -college-football-poll and https apnews com hub college-football Source