RE: Bowl Outlook
I don't believe that the ACC will get 3 NY6 bowl bids even if UNC defeats Clemson. There are 4 playoff and 3 access bowl slots available.
If UNC, Bama, and Stanford all win, speculation is that Stanford would get the 4th playoff spot, demoting UNC to an access bowl. One of the other two slots would likely go to an 12-1 Clemson, and the final spot would be up for grabs among Notre Dame, FSU, the third place team out of the B12 (OkSt., TCU or Baylor, all 10-2) and the third place team out of the B1G (11-1 OSU, 12-1 Iowa, or 11-2 MSU). No way they have an all ACC matchup in one of the Access Bowls, which is what they would have to do.
If UNC and Stanford win, but Bama loses, I think UNC gets a playoff spot. Again, 12-1 Clemson seems likely to get an access bowl slot. The final two slots would then be up for grabs Notre Dame, FSU, Bama as the second place team out of the SEC, the third place team out of the B12 and the third place team out of the B1G.
If UNC and Bama win, but Stanford loses, again I think UNC gets a playoff spot. Again, 12-1 Clemson seems likely to get an access bowl slot. The final two slots would then be up for grabs Notre Dame, FSU, Stanford as the second place team out of the P12, the third place team out of the B12 and the third place team out of the B1G.
I all cases, it's a traffic jam, with too few slots for too many quality teams.
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