ACC WEEKLY ROUND-UP Week 13: Franklin Heads to Virginia Tech as Championship Chaos Continues
By Owain Jones
The ACC may not receive the most national coverage of the Power Four conferences, but the conference is heating up. With a new coach in Blacksburg and the potential clinching of a spot in Charlotte for the ACC Championship Game, plenty is happening after Week 12 on the college football calendar.
James Franklin Lands at Virginia Tech
After weeks of speculation, James Franklin has officially landed in Blacksburg. The former Penn State head coach was announced Monday as a new era begins for Virginia Tech.
With Franklin in place and a $229 million athletics budget secured over the next four years, the Hokies hope 2026 marks a new dawn for the program, where the glory of the Frank Beamer era can be restored.
Franklin brings a winning pedigree, with a 68% win percentage over his 14-year head coaching career, and a formidable recruiting reputation in the Virginia area. What success looks like in Blacksburg is straightforward. The former Nittany Lions head coach is tasked with turning Virginia Tech into a consistent winner and potential College Football Playoff contender.
With the investment in the head coach and athletics program, the Hokies have every opportunity to establish themselves as a top-tier ACC program. Franklin already has connections in key recruiting battlegrounds that should elevate Virginia Tech’s talent level, meaning the hire should send shockwaves throughout the ACC.
Brazil Bound?
A surprise wrinkle in the college football news cycle emerged Tuesday evening, as reports began swirling that an additional international game could be played in 2026. Two games are already officially scheduled overseas next season: TCU vs. North Carolina in Dublin, Ireland, and Kansas vs. Arizona State in London, England. The sport could be heading to South America for a third international game featuring two ACC rivals.
247Sports reported that multiple sources confirmed NC State and Virginia will face off in Brazil in 2026 in a conference game. It is expected to be played on Labor Day weekend and will mark the first time either school has played outside the United States in its history.
It has the potential to be an exciting matchup, as the most recent meeting saw the Wolfpack win 35-31 in a high-scoring thriller during Week 2 of 2025.
The potential international game is not official yet, as we await announcements from both programs and the conference regarding additional information, location, and further details.
The Big 12 has positioned itself as the conference for overseas games, so is the ACC following suit and capitalizing on lucrative international markets?
ACC Championship Game Scenarios Explained
With the time of year comes complex conference championship game scenarios, but the ACC has a chance to be straightforward. Five teams can still make the title game in Charlotte through some rather complicated mathematical equations, but Georgia Tech has its fate in its own hands.
The Yellow Jackets simply need to defeat Pittsburgh in Bobby Dodd Stadium on November 22 to secure their place in the ACC Championship Game. But who they will face is more questionable. Virginia, Miami, SMU, and Pittsburgh all have possibilities (no matter how slim) of making it. Here are the scenarios for each team:
Georgia Tech – Win and in. The Yellow Jackets control their own destiny, and a win against Pittsburgh on Saturday means they will head to the ACC Championship Game for the first time since 2014.
Virginia – The Cavaliers bounced back emphatically from their Wake Forest disaster by demolishing Duke 34-17 to get their title game aspirations back on track. However, their path is more complicated. On a bye in Week 13, Virginia must defeat Virginia Tech on the final weekend of the regular season, while hoping that SMU loses to Cal or Louisville and Pittsburgh loses to Georgia Tech or Miami.
SMU – The Mustangs face a peculiar disadvantage despite matching the other contenders’ conference record. SMU is hurt in the opponent win-percentage tiebreaker because they faced Syracuse and Boston College, the two teams with the worst conference records in the ACC. Their strength-of-schedule penalty could prove decisive in a three-way tie, but Rhett Lashlee’s side must win out and hope that Virginia Tech defeats Virginia, Pittsburgh beats Georgia Tech, and Miami beats Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh – The Panthers saw their championship credentials evaporate Saturday as Notre Dame dismantled them 37-15. For them to make the championship game, Pat Narduzzi’s team needs to win its last two regular-season games against Georgia Tech and Miami, while also hoping SMU loses one of its two games and that Virginia defeats Virginia Tech. The tiebreaker hierarchy matters enormously: head-to-head results first, then win percentage against common opponents, then opponent winning percentage. Pittsburgh loses a three-way tie with SMU and Virginia at 7-1, meaning the Panthers need either SMU or Virginia to lose again.
Miami – Despite looking like a potential playoff contender, Miami is on the outside looking in for a title game berth. The Hurricanes need to win out, with Virginia beating Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh beating Georgia Tech, Duke beating North Carolina, SMU winning one of its final two games, and Wake Forest beating the Blue Devils. The path is a long shot, but still mathematically possible.
Why the Committee's Highest-Ranked ACC Team Won't Make Charlotte
As just explained, Miami’s chances of making the ACC Championship Game are slimmer than slim. However, they can still make the playoffs, and they could be seeded higher than the conference champion.
Currently ranked No. 13 by the College Football Playoff committee and No. 15 in the UK & Ireland College Football Rankings, the Hurricanes remain the top-ranked ACC team heading into the final two games of the regular season, and there is a reason that several voters rank Miami highly despite an 8-2 record.
An at-large bid is still achievable for Mario Cristobal, who must win out if the ACC is to send multiple teams to the 12-team playoff. But first, the Hurricanes must take care of business by running the table to end the season with victories over Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh, which would give them a strong chance of making the postseason.
Despite being the highest-ranked ACC team, they would need to rely on other teams faltering in the final weekends of the season. If the Hurricanes don’t make the conference championship game, Miami must reach at least the No. 10 spot in the committee’s rankings. That is because in the current format, the four highest-ranked conference champions are included along with the highest-ranked Group of Five champion.
Bill O'Brien's Seat Reaches Boiling Point
The 2025 season on Chestnut Hill has been disastrous. After finishing 7-6 and making a bowl game in 2024, Boston College sits at 1-10, with its sole win coming against Fordham in the season opener.
Bill O’Brien’s seat is positively sweltering, and he is feeling the heat. The Eagles came closer than they have all season to a victory, eventually losing 36-34 to Georgia Tech, but the team is staring down the barrel of its worst season since 2015.
The veteran coach is undoubtedly on the hot seat after not winning a conference game. But could he really be fired?
The situation is complicated because Boston College is a private institution, meaning contract details aren’t publicly available. However, the buyout is expected to be substantial.
With only one game remaining in the 2025 season against Syracuse to close out the season, Boston College appears destined to finish with its worst record in a decade. But the potential cost of buying out O’Brien’s contract means the administration will need to weigh the financial burden of a possible coaching change against the optics of retaining a coach who has presided over this level of failure.
HAYNES KING'S HEISMAN MATH
No conversation about potential Heisman Trophy candidates is complete without recognizing Haynes King. The Georgia Tech quarterback has continued to cement his status as a frontrunner for college football’s most prestigious individual honor as one of the most valuable players in the sport.
In 2025, King set a school record with 511 yards of total offense against NC State, shattering Georgia Tech’s previous single-game record of 477 yards. More impressively, his four touchdowns in that game gave him a school-record 85 touchdowns accounted for as a Yellow Jacket, breaking Joe Hamilton’s previous Georgia Tech career record of 83 set from 1996-99 (and King achieved this in just 32 games compared to Hamilton’s 43).
The Yellow Jackets’ dual-threat quarterback has 2,259 passing yards and 10 touchdowns through nine games this season, while adding a further 807 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. His heroics in the fourth quarter have proven clutch in cementing Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship Game and College Football Playoff conversation.
Georgia Tech has launched an official Heisman campaign for King, but he faces an uphill battle. Historically, Heisman voters favor players from programs with national championship aspirations and major media markets.
However, there’s a path. If he can lead the Yellow Jackets to an ACC title and College Football Playoff berth, his case will only strengthen. Winning the ACC title game with his signature swagger and playmaking ability should vault him further into the final Heisman conversation.
ACC Week 13 Conference Play Fixtures
Florida State at NC State
Miami at Virginia Tech
Louisville at SMU
Duke at North Carolina
Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech
Cal at Stanford
OWAIN JONES
COLLEGE FOOTBALL & NFL DRAFT ANALYST
OWAIN jones COVERS EVERYTHING college football & NFL DRAFT. COMING WITH PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE, OWAIN was PREVIOUSLY a writer for pfsn and WAS THE NFL DRAFT EDITOR AT NINETY-NINE YARDS WHERE HE CREATED DRAFT TALK. YOU CAN FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @OWAIN_JONES_