Moving on: “All 128 Atlantic Division Scenarios in One Place

Link.

N.C. STATE (33)
All 128 ACC Atlantic Division scenarios in one place
With four teams and seven games still relevant to the ACC’s Atlantic Division race, there are 128 scenarios that could come out of the division.

(For those without much of a stats background, that number comes from taking two — the number of outcomes possible — to the seventh power, i.e. 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2).

Anyway, this was a quirky project for a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Baltimore on the way back from the Maryland-Miami game. Needless to say, three pages of my notebook now look like Kryptonian symbols.

Of the 128 scenarios, Florida State wins in 38 of them, N.C. State in 33, Maryland in 31 and Clemson in 25.

And then there’s the trainwreck scenario. That’s the fun one.

Suppose Florida State loses to Clemson but beats Maryland. And the Terrapins upend Virginia and N.C. State. Oh, and the Wolfpack has to beat Wake Forest and North Carolina. Finally — and perhaps least likely — Clemson has to lose at Wake Forest. Then again, it’s Clemson, so nothing should be counted out.

Quick tidbit: The only way N.C. State could win the division without beating Maryland is if the Wolfpack is 5-2 entering the finale, Maryland is 3-4 and Clemson has beaten Florida State and lost to Wake Forest.