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Virginia and SMU each control their own destiny in the ACC Championship race entering Rivalry Week, but the legitimacy of the league's top teams as true College Football Playoff contenders has become a hot topic in November.

Miami remains a long shot to reach the ACC title game despite being the league's highest-ranked team. The league's path to multiple bids in the 12-team playoff is slim unless the Hurricanes beat Pittsburgh, miss the championship game and still earn at-large consideration at 10-2.

There's even a mathematical -- if tiny -- path for five-loss Duke to reach Charlotte on Dec. 6. In all, six ACC teams are still fighting for two spots in the conference title game, where a potential playoff berth will be at stake. But there's no guarantee the league champion will be invited to the bracket if two Group of Five champions finish higher in the committee's final rankings.

That's the ACC's doomsday scenario: projected Sun Belt champion James Madison and projected American champion Tulane (or North Texas) both landing ahead of the ACC winner.

Before diving into conference championship game scenarios, let's go over the league standings:

ACC standings entering Week 14

TEAMRECORDTHIS WEEK'S GAME

Virginia

9-2, 6-1

vs. Virginia Tech (win and in)

Pitt

8-3, 6-1

vs. Miami

SMU

8-3, 8-1

at California (win and in)

Georgia Tech

9-2, 6-2

Georgia

Miami

9-2, 5-2

at Pitt

Duke

6-5, 5-2

Wake Forest

Virginia reaches ACC Championship Game if ...

  1. Beat Virginia Tech
  2. Lose to Virginia Tech and Cal beats SMU, UNC beats NC State and Miami beats Pitt

SMU reaches ACC Championship Game if ...

  1. Beat Cal
  2. Lose to Cal and Wake Forest beats Duke, UNC beats NC State, Miami beats Pitt and Virginia beats Virginia Tech

Pitt reaches ACC Championship Game if ...

  1. Beat Miami and Cal beats SMU
  2. Beat Miami and Virginia Tech beats Virginia

Miami reaches ACC Championship Game if ...

  1. Beat Pitt, Virginia Tech beats Virginia and Wake Forest beats Duke or NC State beats UNC
  2. Beat Pitt, Cal beats SMU, Wake Forest beats Duke and NC State beats UNC

Duke reaches ACC Championship Game if ...

  1. Beat Wake Forest, Miami beats Pitt and Cal beats SMU
  2. Beat Wake Forest, Miami beats Pitt, UNC beats NC State, Virginia Tech beats Virginia

Georgia Tech reaches ACC Championship Game if ...

  1. Cal beats SMU, Virginia Tech beats Virginia, Wake Forest beats Duke OR Miami beats Pitt