No. 8 Georgia Tech not playing ACC's other T25 teams, part of unbalanced schedules in expanded P4s

The growth of Power Four conferences — all now have at least 16 teams — has created even more unbalanced schedules and fewer opportunities for potential annual matchups of some of their top-ranked teams. There is still the possibility of meeting in a conference championship game, and maybe even in the 12-team College Football Playoff since there are no restrictions there on matchups of teams from the same league.

Top-ranked Ohio State (7-0) and No. 2 Indiana (8-0) don't play each other in the Big Ten regular season, and the Buckeyes also avoid No. 6 Oregon, whose only loss was to the Hoosiers. Third-ranked Texas A&M (8-0), the Southeastern Conference's only undefeated team, will get through the regular season without having to play No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Georgia or No. 7 Mississippi.

BYU (8-0) is tied with Miami at No. 10 in the AP poll, but the Big 12's only undefeated team still has road games at No. 13 Texas Tech and No. 17 Cincinnati, after already winning at No. 24 Utah. The Cougars joined the expanding Big 12 in 2023, a year after being the last power league with 10 teams able to play a round-robin conference schedule.

ACC's closing stretch

Along with the ACC's four ranked teams, Pittsburgh, SMU and Duke also go into the final month of the regular season with no more than one conference loss.

Dual-threat quarterback Haynes King and Georgia Tech, the only team already with five ACC wins, have to go to North Carolina State and Boston College before back-to-back home games for their conference finale against Pitt and then rivalry rematch against Georgia a year after the Bulldogs' 44-42 win in eight overtimes. The Yellow Jackets then hope to be in their first ACC championship game since 2014 and make the 12-team playoff.

“I view it like this, to go where we want to go, and where everyone wants to go, we're only at the halfway point,” Yellow Jackets coach Brent Key said when asked this week about his approach to the final one-third of the regular season. “We can't predict the future, and it's not just us. That's everybody's goal."

That Georgia Tech-Pitt game on Nov. 22 is one of five matchups remaining between the league's top seven teams. The Panthers a week later end the regular-season at home against Miami. The Hurricanes play Saturday at SMU, which also hosts Louisville on Nov. 22. Virginia plays at Duke on Nov. 15.

Different path for the Ponies

When SMU made its ACC debut last year going undefeated in conference games during the regular season, the Mustangs never had to play Miami. They didn't face Clemson until a 34-31 loss in the ACC championship game, and still made the 12-team playoff field as a two-loss team while the Tigers got the league's automatic spot.

The Mustangs (5-3, 3-1) are coming off a 13-12 loss at Wake Forest that ended their national-best streak of 20 consecutive wins in regular-season conference games since 2022. They had won their first 11 in the ACC after their last nine in the American Athletic Conference.

“It’s just a chance to show that what we did last week wasn’t really who we are,” quarterback Kevin Jennings said about the Mustangs' first conference matchup against Miami.

Coach Rhett Lashlee's team began last November with a 48-25 romp over previously undefeated No. 18 Pittsburgh, weeks after SMU won at then-No. 22 Louisville.

This time, the Mustangs go into November already with three losses, after falling to instate Big 12 teams Baylor and TCU in the first month of the season. Their only chance for a CFP return is to get into and win the ACC championship game. In addition to the home games against Miami and Louisville, they play at Boston College and California.

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