Clemson is new to this whole College Football Playoff thing. That means the Clemson media (at least, those of us who have been here a while) are new to it, too.

With newness comes the creation of knowledge through experience. It’s a cool way to learn—going through something to figure out how it is. That’s what we’re doing right now.

Sometimes, trying to learn through experience teaches us things we should have already known. One thing that stands out about this particular phenomenon is how much talking takes place between the end of conference championship week and the playoff games.

Anybody else tired of hearing people talk about this?

The narratives are way past the tired stage. There isn’t a single thing that can be written now that hasn’t already been written fifty times already.

Clemson beat Oklahoma last year, and the Sooners are mad about it. We get it. Don’t let facts get in the way on this one.

Both teams are playing for a national title, but they feel outrageously disrespected by everyone and everything and every system. We know already. Both teams’ fans have told us all—you’d be surprised, trust me—how underappreciated their team is.

Clemson hasn’t faced Oklahoma’s offense. Oklahoma hasn’t faced Clemson’s defense. Apparently both schools play in leagues where the teams only play one side of the football.

The Sooners are white hot. Like, “smoldering lava spewing from Vesuvius” hot. Like, Dante’s Inferno hot. Like, Christmas in South Carolina hot.

Baker Mayfield thinks highly of himself. Actually, this one is pretty interesting. Somehow, the two-time walk-on gets more arrogant with each passing day. It’s truly remarkable.

Really, the most frustrating thing is how all of these narratives seem to miss at least half of the point. Maybe it’s just me, but the level of bias in the analysis of this game is stunning—and, I’ll be honest, most of it seems to be going in favor of Oklahoma.

Yes, Oklahoma is super motivated by getting pounded 40-6 last season, and Mayfield is there now, and Sterling Shepard is healthy, and Samaje Perine has Joe Mixon now, and they’re actually planning to try this time.

People spouting this theory as a reason why Oklahoma might win must think Deshaun Watson showed up at last year’s game in a Cole Stoudt costume. They must be convinced Clemson’s offense only got yardage because it played against little riff-raff teams like Boston College. (I actually heard that from an Oklahoma fan as he tried to convince me TCU was better than BC on defense. It was so shocking and idiotic I didn’t know how to respond.)

Also, in this all-superior offensive league featuring an unfathomable collection of elite quarterbacks, name the best quarterback Oklahoma faced this season. If the names “Patrick Mahomes” or “J.W. Walsh” come to mind, we’re on the right track—and probably unimpressed. If the name “Jarrett Stidham” comes to mind, remember he was Baylor’s backup.

Just wanted to throw that in there, because apparently the Big 12 possessing very talented quarterbacks means Oklahoma automatically played against all of them. That argument lends itself to the “Oklahoma is playing with the blazing fire of a thousand suns” theory, which might be true, but not in the cut-and-dry fashion it’s being presented to the public.

Then there’s Mayfield, almost the anti-Watson in the way he handles himself. There was the much-publicized breakup with Texas Tech that still has ramifications to this day. And how about that weird feud with Gary Patterson? Does it get any more awkward than this?

Then there was Mixon’s press gathering on Tuesday, which became national news when reporters were told not to ask the stud tailback about bashing a girl’s face in on video last year.

On top of all of these things, now Clemson has to deal with three suspensions announced to the team two days before a game that has been building for four weeks. Two of the three could potentially hurt the Tigers’ chances, with Ammon Lakip unable to handle kickoffs and extra points and Deon Cain emerging as Clemson’s primary deep threat in the second half of the season.

Given how slight Clemson’s chances seem to be in the minds of many, those suspensions might as well be a death sentence for the Tigers’ hopes and dreams. After all, Oklahoma is the only team that got better over the past twelve months…right?

Incomplete narratives, weird recruiting beefs, disrespect for days, off-field nonsense…when will this end?

Please, for the sake of all involved, let’s just spot the ball already.

God Bless!

WQ