Help Me Understand the 3-Way Tiebreaker

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GiveEmHellJackets

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Okay, below are the official 3-way tiebreaker rules for determining who reps their ACC division in the ACCCG.

I am trying to make sure I understand is how these rules would be applied if Miami and Va Tech and Georgia Tech all finish the year 7-1 in the ACC. naturally, my scenario would mean that:

Miami beat GT
GT beat VPI
VPI beat Miami
VPI, Miami and GT won all other conference games.

(And there's no need to tell me that I am getting ahead of myself and that my scenario is unlikely because I realize those things.:biggthumpup:)

Taken from http://www.theacc.com/sports/m-footbl/fbtiebreaker.html, but with my comments in bold.

  1. Combined head-to-head record among the tied teams. (This won't resolve it, so on to ...)
  2. Records of the tied teams within the division. (won't resolve it, next...)
  3. Head-to-head competition versus the team within the division with the best overall (divisional or conference) record, and proceeding through the division. Multiple ties within the division will be broken first to last. (okay, I could use some clarification here, but I'll assume this won't resolve it...)
  4. Overall record for non-divisional teams. (Am I stupid? I don't really know what this means....)
  5. Combined record versus all common non-divisional teams. (Nope, won't resolve it...)
  6. Record versus common non-divisional with the best overall Conference (divisional and non-divisional record) and proceeding through the other common non-divisional teams based on their order of finish within the division. (If I understand this right, this won't resolve it; next...)
  7. The tied team with the highest ranking in the Bowl Championship Series Standings following the conclusion of regular season games shall be the divisional representative in the ACC Championship Game, unless the second of the tied teams is ranked within five-or-fewer places of the highest ranked tied team. In this case, the head-to-head results of the top two ranked tied teams shall determine the representative in the ACC Championship Game. (Okay, I guess this means that if Tech and Miami were the two highest ranked teams in the last reg season BCS rankings, Va Tech would be excluded and we'd have to be ranked six spots higher than Miami to go. If GT and VPI are each ranked higher than Miami, VPI'd have to outrank us by six spots to keep us from going. If we're ranked behind both of them, we're excluded.)
  8. The representative shall be chosen by a draw. (I guess in my scenario this could only come into play if all three teams had an identical BCS ranking; highly unlikely)
So, bottom line is that I was not exactly right when I posted in a previous thread that we would control our destiny if Miami lost to Oklahoma. It would help us for Miami and VPI to lose nonconference games only insofar as it would help us to be ranked ahead of them in the BCS standings if that's what ends up resolving the tiebreaker. For purposes of that scenario, I guess there's a good argument for pulling for VPI and Miami to have OOC losses. And this scenario also means that our OOC games could have a real impact on whether we win the ACC.

I'm hazy on the meaning of ##3, 4 and 6 above.

Anyone care to explain it?

Thanks.:biggthumpup:
 
I was actually thinking about this while I was showering after working out. But yes, I believe it is whoever is ahead in BCS polls. I do think we beat VPI, and I believe we'll have to win the rest of our games to be able to pull this off. It won't be easy, but I think it can happen.
 
GiveEmHellJackets said:
3)Head-to-head competition versus the team within the division with the best overall (divisional or conference) record, and proceeding through the division. Multiple ties within the division will be broken first to last. (okay, I could use some clarification here, but I'll assume this won't resolve it...)
4)Overall record for non-divisional teams. (Am I stupid? I don't really know what this means, but I don't think it would resolve it...)
Click to expand...

Not really sure what 3 means, but I think 4 means overall record minus coastal teams, so basically win-loss against Atlantic and out of conference. We have the advantage in that area thus far because VPI already lost to Bama and Miami is going to have a tough time with Oklahoma next week.
 
So if #4 just means "overall record" this WOULD mean that it could directly help us for Miami to lose to Oklahoma, at least for 3 way tiebreaker purposes, but of course, we can't assume that there would be a third team in the tie-breaker.

Okay, I admit it: It's really not worth worrying about all this crap yet. We just need Miami to lose another ACC game and for us to win out. Kep it simple, dumbass.

I have a headache now. I think I'll just go back to hating Richt. It's easier.
 
I hope Miami loses every game. The "root for the ACC" thing doesn't apply to them anymore.
 
We have to win out and hope that VT and UM do not otherwise they will be ranked higher than us.
 
KrazieJacket said:
We have to win out and hope that VT and UM do not otherwise they will be ranked higher than us.
Click to expand...

Us winning out = VPI having at least two losses to our one loss, including a loss to us. I don't see how they could be ranked ahead of us if that happens. If Miami wins out, then yeah, they'd be ranked ahead of us regardless of what we do I would think.

The more I think about it, the more I'm sure that I want Oklahoma to beat Miami.
 
I dont trust polls enough to put a 1 loss GT team above a 2 loss VT team. See our quick exit last week from 13th while miami gets credit for a win against us and moves from around 20 to 9. We have a great tradition but no current face value in the polls.
 
KrazieJacket said:
I dont trust polls enough to put a 1 loss GT team above a 2 loss VT team. See our quick exit last week from 13th while miami gets credit for a win against us and moves from around 20 to 9. We have a great tradition but no current face value in the polls.
Click to expand...

Not sayin' I trust the polls either, but I also know of no precedent wherein you have two teams in the same BCS conference, and at the end of the regular season, Team A has one loss and yet is ranked behind Team B, even though Team B has two losses and lost to Team A. I think that if this ever happens, it will be a new low for poll stupidity, and that's saying something.
 
If you have no trust in the polls and agree they are stupid what proof do you need for a precedent to show up at any time for them to favor theirself?
 
Anyway it's all a crapshoot... GT needs to win out and to do that we will have to show some remarkable improvement.
 
KrazieJacket said:
If you have no trust in the polls and agree they are stupid what proof do you need for a precedent to show up at any time for them to favor theirself?
Click to expand...

I think the polls are stupid, but they're not that stupid. If we are 11-1 and Va Tech is 10-2 and we beat Va Tech straight up, there is simply no way in hell that Va Tech will be ranked ahead of us. 11-1 is a pretty damn good record. We'd have won 9 in a row and beat UGA and FSU and VT, and 2 SEC road games. Maybe a 2 loss team from the SEC or Big 12 could be ahead of us, but not a 2 loss team from our conference that we beat. No chance.
 
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