No. 6 Miami fell 42-38 on the road to Syracuse on Saturday afternoon. The Hurricanes entered the game just one win shy of the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte, and Miami’s loss had a big impact on the title race.

The Orange’s win means Miami will be out of contention for an ACC title game, which also means the Hurricanes will no longer have a chance at a top-four finish and a bye in the first round of the 2024 College Football Playoff.

MORE: Updated ACC Championship scenarios

How Syracuse upset the Canes at home

Miami led 21-14 at halftime, but this game came down to the wire. The Orange took a 42-35 lead with 9:16 left on a LeQuint Allen touchdown. On Miami’s ensuing possession, the Canes had to settle for a field goal to get within four minutes.

The Syracuse offense got the ball back with 3:42 left. With less than two minutes left, Miami’s Mishael Powell was flagged for offside, giving Syracuse another first down. From there, the Orange were able to run the ball for another first down and run out the clock, sealing the upset victory.

MORE: Updated Big Ten Championship scenarios

How does this affect Miami’s playoff impact?

With this loss to unranked Syracuse, Miami will drop significantly in the College Football Playoff rankings. And with the loss, the Canes can now no longer play for an ACC title.

The conference loss to Syracuse drops Miami to third place in the ACC standings. Clemson’s 7-1 ACC record is good enough to send them to Charlotte.

SMU, which defeated Cal 38-6 on Saturday, already secured a spot in the conference championship game with its win over Virginia last week. The Mustangs are 11-1 overall, with just one non-conference loss to BYU earlier this season.

While there may still be a path to the playoffs for Miami, things are looking pretty crowded at the bottom of the field.

No. 10 Indiana, with a win over Purdue on Saturday night, should still have an 11-1 record at the end of the year. No. 2 Ohio State’s loss to unranked Michigan means the Buckeyes will also likely fall to the bottom half of the field. No. 4 Penn State will play No. 1 Oregon in the Big Ten title game, and both are likely to receive bids regardless of the outcome of next week’s game in Indianapolis.

No. 11 Boise State will play either UNLV or Colorado State in the Mountain West title game next Saturday. The winner of this game also receives a bid. No. 7 Georgia will face the winner of Texas-Texas A&M in the SEC title game on Saturday night – both teams are also likely to receive bids regardless of the outcome of the game, unless either team fails completely.

No. 8 Tennessee is expected to receive a bid and finished 10-2 with a 36-23 win over Vanderbilt earlier Saturday.

Clemson was upset 17-14 at home by No. 15 South Carolina on Saturday. But this game has no impact on the Tigers’ ACC record because the Gamecocks are an SEC team. Before Saturday’s game, Clemson was already ahead of Miami in the ACC standings as the Tigers had played seven conference games to Miami’s six.

Current ACC standings

The reason Clemson is now going to Charlotte instead of Miami is because the Tigers’ ACC record (7-1) would be better than Miami’s one-loss record (6-2). If Miami wins, the Canes advance based on the ACC tiebreaker, which measures win percentage against all common conference opponents. Since Miami and Clemson did not play each other, there is no direct tiebreaker.